CALIFORNIA, Penn. -- The Lake Erie College Storm baseball team kicked off their season with a road trip to California, Pennsylvania to take on Lock Haven, California (Pa.), and Wheeling Jesuit. Surrendering big innings was the theme on th weekend as the Storm pitching was unable to stop the opposition from staying quiet.

Game 1 - 2/17 vs Lock Haven
Jon Poppy would take the mound for Lake Erie to kick off their season and would end up putting together a solid performance, surrendering just two earned runs in four innings of work. Lock Haven would jump on the board first with two runs in the first  and the Storm offense would get off to a quiet start, getting shut down their first time through the lineup.

In the top of the fourth, Israel Espinosa would kick off the inning by singling up the middle. He would then steal second and advance to third when Zimba Cadiz singled to left field. Jacob Mote would bring Espinosa in next at bat to get Lake Erie on the board. The Storm would tie things up on a Josue Cruz sac fly. 

The tie game would not last long though, as Lock Haven would take the lead back in the bottom half of the inning and take control teh rest of the way, giving the Storm a 10-2 loss to start the year.


Game 2 - 2/18 vs California (Pa.)
With yesterday's woes behind them, Lake Erie would look to turn the ship around as they faced host California (Pa.). Once again, the Storm would get through their lineup the first time around without a hit, bit with a 3-0 deficit on the board, they would bounce back in a huge way in the top of the fourth.

After a Jacob Mote and Sebastian Silva walk, Ty Sowers would knock in the first Storm run of the game with a single to left field. Ty Sowers would advance to second on a wild pitch and Jose Cruz would walk, loading the bases for Justin Major. With the count at 0-2, Major would turn on one and smash it over the left field wall putting his team up 6-3.

The Vulcans would tack on two more in the bottom of the fifth but would breakout for four more runs in the sixth and from there they would keep rolling, finishing the contest with a 21-7 final.

Game 3 - 2/19 vs Wheeling Jesuit
Lake Erie would look to finish up the road trip with a victory against their next opponent, the Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals.

The Cardinals would get on the board first with an RBI single in the third inning, but the Storm would respond with an exciting inning in the fourth. With one out in the inning, Zimba Cadiz would draw a full-count walk and proceed to steal second. Josue Cruz would then double down the left field line and bring Cadiz in. Robert Helt would then come up to the plate and hussle out an RBI triple, setting up Trevor Smentek to bring him home with a single through the right side and give Lake Erie a 3-1 lead. The Cardinals would manage to tie things up the next inning and take a 4-3 lead in the following one. 

The Storm would go scoreless the next four innings, leaving them one final shot to save the game in the bottom of the ninth. Helt would come up big once again by starting the 9th inning rally by turning on an 0-2 count and rope a single to center. Haga Hejduk would replace Helt on the base paths and advance to second the next at-bat when Smentek would ground into a fielder's choice. Justin major would advance Hejduk to third on a ground out, putting the game in the hands of Sean Moore. On a 2-1 count, Moore would single through the right side and tie things up.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals would put two runs up in the top of the 10th and shut the Storm out in the bottom half, finalizing the score at 6-4.

The Storm start the season with an 0-3 record and return to action on February 25 on the road at West Virginia State University.