Rodney Shultz strung together one of the finest pitching performances in program history on his way to tossing a no-hitter and powering Pitt-Johnstown to an efficient 1-0 victory over Mercyhurst in the opener.
The Mountain Cats were sent to a 4-0 loss after suffering the same fate in the second contest to split an oddly equal PSAC West doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. They now sit at 15-23 and 5-13 in the conference. The Lakers are 15-15 and 12-6 in the West.
The junior right-handed pitcher from Tyrone, Pa. allowed just one baserunner when he walked Mercyhurst's Luke Jackson with two outs in the bottom of the first. But Shultz promptly struck out the next batter to begin a streak of 19 straight retired batters over the next six innings.
He racked up a season-high eight strikeouts, while throwing just 90 pitches and recording nine groundouts and four flyouts.
Shultz's near-perfect outing counteracted a limited amount of offense for the Mountain Cats against Lakers' starter Corbin Foy. But they did break through with the only run Shultz would need almost immediately in the top of the first.
Alex Ebeling reached on an error with one out and came around to notch the only run of the game on Josh Ulery's RBI triple to center-field.
There was a golden opportunity to add on after loading the bases in the sixth when Devon Boyles chopped an infield single, but Foy worked a groundout to end the threat.
Zach Ramach cracked a one-out double in the seventh before being left stranded. That left it up to Shultz to protect a one-run lead one more time. He induced two flyouts in the seventh before striking out Chris Juchno for the second time to end the game.
The Mountain Cats had the favor returned to them in game two after Ryan Rafalski threw a no-hitter on 94 pitches.
Erik Rhodes drew two of Pitt-Johnstown's six walks against Rafalski, but none of them led to any damage.
Mercyhurst scored a pair of runs apiece in the third and fourth innings off starter Zach Myers, who was charged with the loss. He conceded four runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk in 3.2 innings. Austin Hammerle threw 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Pitt-Johnstown will wrap up the four-game series opposite of Mercyhurst with a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. from Point Stadium.
