Mount Union's baseball team, ranked No. 20 in the nation, takes on NCAA Division II member Walsh in a doubleheader Saturday at noon at West Miffin High School in West Mifflin, Pa.
There will be LIVE STATS and an online LIVE AUDIO broadcast of the games at http://livestats.prestosports.com/mountunion. Fans are also encouraged to download the Purple Raiders Front Row moblie app and follow along on the their phones, tablets and other devices at http://athletics.mountunion.edu/frontrow
West Mifflin High School has an all-turf baseball facility that opened a year ago and is located in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin, Pa. - 91 Commonwealth Ave; West Mifflin, PA 15122
It will be a homecoming of sorts as 12 Purple Raiders hail from Western Pennsylvania -- 9 of those from greater Pittsburgh -- including senior outfielder Ricky Olasz who is from West Mifflin.
Mount Union has not played in seven days after going 9-0 on its annual opening season Florida trip. On offense, the Raiders hit .382 as a team while in 69 innings on the mound Mount Union pitchers have a combined 2.74 earned run average with 58 strikeouts and 16 walks.
Leading the charge at the plate has been senior shortstop Lee Grosscup (Green/Green), who is hitting a team-best .533 with 16 hits, six doubles, a triple and 12 RBI. He was an honorable mention in this week's National Hitter of the Week selections by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Senior outfielder Connor Mathis (Akron/Firestone) and junior third baseman Anthony Morino (Strongsville/Strongsville) are both second on the team with 15 hits each. Mathis is hitting .441 while Morino is hitting .455 and has driven in 10 runs.
Scheduled to pitch Saturday is senior Zach Carlino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) and junior Sam Clarke (Strongsville/Strongsville).
Both pitchers started two games in Florida, Carlino is 1-0 with 11 strikeouts in 11.2 innings and a 6.17 ERA while Clarke is 2-0 with a complete game, seven strikeouts and a 2.08 ERA in a team-high 13 innings pitched.
Two other starters are off to 2-0 starts in junior Gino Cerani (Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln) and senior Matt Murzynski (Mentor/Lake Catholic).
Cerani is the reigining OAC Pitcher of the Week as he struck out 16 and allowed just two earned runs over 13 innings in Florida.
In his last start against Waynesburg, Murzynski retired the first 19 hitters he faced and was two outs from a perfect game before surrendering a hit. Murzynski did get the complete game victory and has struck out nine with a 4.50 ERA over his two starts.
"Pittsburgh Power"
Mount Union is 75 miles Northwest of Pittsburgh and this year's Purple Raider squad is well represented by those from the 'burgh
Three other players hail from Western Pennsylvania
Up Next ...
Mount Union is scheduled to host Thiel (Pa.) in a non-conference game Monday at 3 pm at 23rd Street Field in Alliance.
