The hunt for the Steel Division baseball title looks like it'll go down to the wire and Liberty hopes they'll be the ones standing when things are all said and done in the East Penn Conference regular season.

The Hurricanes (10-4, 8-3) held a one-game lead over rival Freedom (8-5, 7-4) heading into this week's stretch of games following a weekend of crucial results for both teams.

In a rare Sunday afternoon contest, Liberty outmuscled Bethlehem Catholic 10-8 after trailing 8-3 heading into the sixth. The 'Canes scored seven unanswered runs to come out on top, which came with the help of six Becahi errors to keep the Hawks winless on the season at 0-9.

Sunday's win, coupled with last Friday's victory over Easton, has put the Hurricanes squarely in the driver's seat to win the division heading into the final two weeks of the season.

"The win over Easton is huge," said head coach Andy Pitsilos. "If we would have lost that game, we would have been behind them and Freedom. Now, we have a two-game lead on Easton and hold the tie-breaker over them since we beat them twice."

Liberty defeated the Rovers 5-3 last Friday afternoon behind the arm of Ben Hudock, who threw six scoreless innings en route to his second win of the season. Both of Hudock's wins have come in big contests, as he got his first victory at Coca-Cola Park in a win over Freedom on April 17.

Sam Kraihanzel did most of the damage for the Hurricanes at the plate on Friday, belting three RBIs on the day, as Liberty scored three runs in the first and added a run in the second and fourth innings for a confidence-building lead.

Mike Mittl also had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 on the day with three runs scored.

Freedom (9-5, 7-4), on the other hand, have won three straight since a nine inning, 2-1 loss to Easton last week.

The Pates knocked off Nazareth 5-1 and Dieruff 16-4 to close out the week before Monday's 11-1 win over Dieruff.

Sitting right behind Liberty in the standings for the division lead presents little room for error moving forward, which is something that head coach Nick D'Amico fully comprehends.

"If things work out the way they should, our last game with Liberty will mean a whole lot," said D'Amico. "If we want to win the division, we're going to have to win all three of our games this week to give ourselves a chance."

The Pates take on Bethlehem Catholic (0-8, 0-7) today and finish the week with Allen (8-5, 5-5) on Friday in a pivotal week.

Liberty closes out the week with four straight games, as they play Dieruff (4-8, 2-7) today, Emmaus (10-4, 8-3) on Thursday and Becahi on Friday.

They also play Stroudsburg (11-1, 9-1) on Saturday in a game that is listed as a nonconference affair.

Pitsilos is happy to give his arms some rest by having Monday and Tuesday off, but is well aware how difficult four games in four days will be to end the week.

"It certainly isn't ideal," he said of the situation, "but it's something you just have to deal with. We'll focus on one game at a time and take it from there. Right now, we're in the drivers seat [of the division] but we have to take care of business."