Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team's season came to an end with a doubleheader loss at Mercyhurst Sunday, 4-2 and 7-6. Slippery Rock entered the day needing to win one game to clinch a spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoffs.

Slippery Rock finishes the regular season with an overall record of 19-13 and a PSAC-West mark of 6-10. The Rock softball program has now produced winning seasons in four of the past five years. Mercyhurst improved to 24-18 overall and 9-7 in the PSAC-West.

Junior Natalie Atkinson went 3-for-3 and accounted for half of Slippery Rock's hits in its 4-2 loss to Mercyhurst in game one. Junior Kirsten Brant was 1-for-2 with two walks and one run scored in the loss while freshman Gina Brenzo and sophomore Jenna Geibel were responsible for the other two Rock hits in the game.

In her final appearance for The Rock, senior Shauna Walker (6-7) scattered six hits and struck out four batters over 5.2 innings of work. Senior Lindsey Grace entered the game in relief of Walker and gave up two runs and one hit in 0.1 innings.

The Rock struck first Sunday by scoring two runs in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. With two outs in the frame, Brant and Geibel drew back-to-back walks to extend the inning. A fielding error by Mercyhurst on the next at-bat allowed both Brant and Geibel to score and senior Jordan Zeunges, who put the ball in play, to advance to third base on the error. Mercyhurst pitcher Amanda Norman (11-6) kept Zeunges at third base and got out of the inning by striking out sophomore Katie Saluga.

A four-run inning by the Lakers in the bottom of the third inning proved to be too much for SRU to overcome. Mercyhurst began the inning with two hits that resulted in one run to trim The Rock's lead to 2-1. After the consecutive hits Walker was pulled in favor of Grace. But the Lakers were able to get to Grace as she gave up two runs before being pulled for Walker, who allowed one more run in the inning before retiring the side with Mercyhurst leading 4-2.

Walker would settle down for the remainder of the game and hold Mercyhurst without a hit for the final three innings of play, The Rock's best scoring chance came in the top of the seventh inning when a single from Geibel and walks by Brant and Zeunges loaded the bases with two outs before Laker reliever Megan Smith stepped into the circle to record the final out of the game to preserve Mercyhurst's 4-2 win.

Slippery Rock's bats came alive in the game two, but five runs in the final two innings by Mercyhurst gave the Lakers a 7-6 win and ended The Rock's hopes of a trip to the PSAC playoffs.

Seven different Rock players tallied hits in game two with Zeunges leading the way with a 3-for-4 one-RBI performance. Sophomore Amanda Hedgepeth and junior Shaylee Ianno also recorded two-hit games for The Rock. Hedgepeth was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and Ianno, who also threw a complete game for SRU, was 2-for-3 with one RBI. In the circle, Ianno (12-5) struck out four batters over six innings in the loss. Only four of the seven runs scored by Mercyhurst were earned runs.

Slippery Rock once again scored first to begin the game. After two scoreless innings, The Rock plated three runs in the top of the third inning thanks to RBI hits from senior Shardea Croes, Geibel and Zeunges. The Lakers responded in the bottom half of the inning with two runs to cut the SRU lead to 3-2.

The Green and White fired right back in the fourth inning as Hedgepeth and junior Stephanie Collenette both reached base with one out for Ianno, who proceeded to help her own cause with a double that scored Hedgepeth to give SRU a 4-2 edge. The Lakers got out of the inning by forcing Croes to groundout and then catching Collenette in a rundown between third base and home plate.

With their own playoff chances hanging in the balance, Mercyhurst regrouped and scored three runs in the fifth inning by way of a passed ball and a two-run home run by Emily Reding to take its first lead of the game at 5-4.

Slippery Rock took the lead for the final time in the game when Collenette and Atkinson scored runs off of an error in the sixth inning to give SRU a 6-5 lead. However, Mercyhurst's Courtney Smith and Amanda Walker both hit home runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 7-6 lead that SRU could not comeback from as its season came to a close with a double play to end the game in the top of the seventh inning.

Slippery Rock will return 19 players from this year's roster in 2012. The 2011 senior class of Croes, Grace, Samantha Pfister, Walker and Zeunges end their careers with a four-year record of 88-79.