ERIE, Pennsylvania - In the final portion of their competition this week, the Salem baseball team matched up with the Lakers of Grand Valley State in a rare neutral site contest held on the campus of yesterday's doubleheader opponent, Mercyhurst. The Tigers stuck with the Lakers the whole way, but were overcome in extra innings to fall by a score of 7-3. 

The Lakers took an early lead in the first, but Salem answered right back when a Tyler Shinn RBI single knotted the score up at 1-1. Right after that, Nathan Kuhn made his way home off of a Ben Matos groundout. With the score 2-1, Salem controlled the game briefly, but Grand Valley State added 2 runs in the 2nd and 4th innings to make it 3-2. The Tigers battled back in the 7th when Trey Hissam singled to score Jose Lojo and level the score again at 3-3. Unfortunately, the Lakers added 4 runs in the final inning, and Salem was unable to mount a comeback bid in the bottom of that same inning. Therefore, the Tigers fell by a score of 7-3. On the pitchers mound, starter Tyler Sammons and relievers Keegan Oliver and Jhayden Raineri combined for a total of 5 strikeouts. 

While today did not end the way the Salem faithful would have preferred, Salem Baseball will be back in action on March 22nd for a midweek home contest with Davis & Elkins at 4 PM back at the friendly confines of Frank Loria Memorial Field in Nutter Fort.