Game 1--Falcons 9, Storm 2

The first game of the Lake Erie baseball team's doubleheader at Notre Dame College saw the Storm lose, 9-2. A promising start fell victim to too many runs allowed in the later innings, and Lake Erie was unable to come back.

The Storm jumped out to a 2-0 lead early, as senior infielder Jesse Barrios picked up an RBI single in the second inning off of Falcons starter Jesse Clark, before catcher Scott Fernald did the same thing in the fourth inning. All in all, three different Storm batters would end up reaching base at least twice in the game, and that played a role in causing Notre Dame's Clark to exit after just four innings.

But the Falcons were far from dead. With over half of the game left to play at that point, Notre Dame's offense kicked it into second gear in the fifth inning, pushing across three runs to take a 3-2 lead. One of those runs was unearned, due to the first of three Storm errors in the game.

Notre Dame scored three more times in the sixth inning and then three more times again in the eighth. No matter who the Storm put on the mound, whether it was starter Mitch Sorensen, Tristan Mayer, or Tyler Bryant, the Falcons offense seemingly couldn't be stopped in this one.

Lake Erie, who had begun the game on a good note, couldn't muster enough firepower at the end, and fell in Game 1, 9-2. With that, head coach Gary Vaught's Storm regrouped and set its sights on the second game of the afternoon.

Game 2--Storm 4, Falcons 3 (Final/10)

In Game 2, the Storm seemingly were able to settle into things a little more and correct some mistakes from the first ball game, winning the game in dazzling extra-inning fashion, 4-3.

Being the second game of a doubleheader, this affair was only slated to go seven innings. However, both sides held strong defensively for a large chunk of the game, with the score being knotted up at three from the fifth inning on. But then, in the top of the 10th, Lake Erie broke the tie on a single to center field by Eddie Morris, which plated Reed Collins to give the Storm a 4-3 advantage.

That would be a lead that Lake Erie wouldn't relinquish in the bottom of the 10th, as redshirt senior Ryan Lally came in and shut the door on the Falcons to earn himself a save. Anthony Berrios Jr. got the win, pitching 2.1 innings of scoreless ball and only allowing one hit.

The fifth inning was a notable one for the Storm offensively, as the Lake Erie batters didn't let either Notre Dame starting pitcher Ashton Spurgeon or reliever Bryan Benedict escape the inning unscathed. The Storm put two runs on the board against Spurgeon in the inning, who had otherwise held Lake Erie scoreless up to that point. Benedict finished off the fifth, but not before allowing another earned run himself.

Storm freshman catcher Cody Greenfield knocked in Sam Browning on a ground-rule double to left field with one out to give Lake Erie its initial run. Junior infielder Eric Doyle's single to right later that inning scored Greenfield, and then sophomore infielder Drew Donaldson's single to third scored Doyle. Both Doyle's and Donaldson's hits came with two outs.

But the game wasn't without its bumps early on for the Storm. Starting pitcher Cade Wendel allowed three earned runs over three innings before being relieved to start the fourth. Notre Dame outfielder Matt Richards singled in two runs in the second inning, before third baseman Nick Petrolla's sacrifice fly pushed across a third run in the third.

This victory marks the second win of the season for the Storm baseball team. The club will now look to grab its second win in a row on Saturday, when it travels to Mercyhurst. That contest is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.