The Lakers baseball team played host to the Edison State Chargers today and split a doubleheader by winning the first game 9-8 before dropping game 2 by a score of 9-4. In game 1, the Lakers battled throughout before taking the game late. Edison State was able to take advantage of Laker errors in game 1 to score their runs, but the Lakers continued to battle offensively until they got the win. Edison State scored 1 unearned run in the top of the 1st inning to start the game. Lakeland responded by scoring 3 runs in the home half of the 1st inning. Cody Hejduk got things going with a 1-out double. Kyle Zaluski knocked Hejduk in with an RBI double. Caden Gopalakrishna then hit a ball that the 3rd baseman misplayed allowing Zaluski to score while Gopalakrishna advanced to 2nd base. Cody Crawford then hit a ball that the first baseman misplayed allowing the Lakers to add another run and gain a 3-1 lead. In the top of the 3rd inning, the Chargers took advantage of a couple more Laker miscues allowing them to score two runs to knot the score at 3. The Lakers immediately answered in the home half of the 3rd inning. Cody Hejduk started things by reaching on an error before Rafael Nakandakari Alves and Gopalakrishna were walked to load the bases. Cody Crawford then stepped up and hit an RBI single. Stephen Osowski followed him by hitting an RBI single and then Riley Wallace hit a 2-RBI single to give the Lakers a 7-3 advantage after 3 innings. The Chargers took advantage of more defensive mistakes to score two runs in both the 5th and 6th innings to tie the score at 7. The Chargers kept the pressure on Lakeland, but the Lakers refused to lose this game. In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Lakers would score again to regain the lead. Cody Hejduk was hit by a pitch to get the Lakers going. Hejduk advanced to second as Alves executed a sac bunt. Kyle Zaluski then stepped to the plate and ripped an RBI single to left center field to give the Lakers an 8-7 lead. That lead was shortlived. In the top of the 7th inning, the Chargers would take advantage of an error to tie the game again at 8. In the home half of the 7th inning, the Lakers wasted no time as Cody Crawford led off with a triple on a rope to right-center field. Two batters later, Riley Wallace hit a walk-off single to give the Lakers the game 1 victory.

Offensively, the Lakers were led by Cody Crawford who went 3-4 with an RBI and scoring 2 runs and Kyle Zaluski who went 2-4 with 2 RBI's. Riley Wallace went 1-3 with 3 RBI's and Cody Hejduk went 1-3 and scored 3 runs. Caden Gopalakrishna, Rafael Nakandakari Alves, and Stephen Osowski each picked up a hit in the win. Abe Bayus started and took the no-decision as he pitched well over 4.2 innings allowing 5 hits and 5 runs (0 earned). Lenny Feckner relieved in the bottom of the 5th in a tight situation. He came in and ended the threat with a quick strikeout. Overall, Feckner pitched 1.1 innings and allowed 2 runs. Owen Mansfield pitched the final inning picking up the win while allowing 1 run on no hits.

Game 2 was a quickly played close game until the last inning. The Chargers scored single runs in the 3rd, 5th, and 6th inning before exploding for 6 runs in the top of the 7th inning. The Lakers, who were quiet offensively most of game 2, tried to battle back in the home half of the 7th by scoring 4 runs, but fell short. In the 7th inning, Joey Elly got things going with a 1-out single. He was followed by consecutive walks to Dalton Vance and Cody Hejduk.  Rafael Nakandakari Alves then hit an RBI single scoring Elly. Kyle Zaluski followed with an RBI single scoring Vance. Cody Crawford knocked in the final two runs for the Lakers as he later hit a 2-RBI single. Offensively, Cody Crawford led the way as he finished 3-4 with 2 RBI's. Kyle Zaluski was 2-4 with an RBI while Joey Elly picked up two hits. Alves and Stephen Osowski both picked up a hit in the loss. Frank Sloan pitched well, but suffered the tough luck loss finishing with a stat line of 6 innings, 5 hits, and 7 earned runs. Stephen Osowski relieved and threw 1 inning allowing 3 hits and 2 earned runs.

Next Up: The Lakers play host to the Titans from Terra State on Wednesday (4/19). First pitch is scheduled for 1:00pm.