New/Sortable Box Score 1 |
New/Sortable Box Score 2 | Game 1 Stats |
Game 2 Stats
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team went 2-0 in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader against Mercyhurst University Friday at the SRU Softball Complex, winning game one 6-5 and ending game two with a 15-6 win in five innings.
The Rock improved their overall record to 9-11 and 2-2 in conference play. The losses dropped Mercyhurst to 10-16 overall and 1-5 in the PSAC West.
Katie Saluga led the way in game one going 3-for-4 with two home runs, her fifth and sixth of the season.
Game one was scoreless until the third inning when Mercyhurst's Courtney Smith singled to right field scoring Julie Harmon. Slippery Rock didn't stay down for long, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third to give them the 2-1 lead.
The bottom of the third saw Saluga's first home run of the game and
Alaynna Beers hit a single to center field scoring
Katie Kaiser.
Ashley Knight recorded two strikeouts in the top of the fourth and Saluga caught Megan Smith stealing second base. The Rock then managed to put three more runs on the board with RBIs from
Katie Kaiser,
Jenna Geibel and
Alaynna Beers.
In the top of the fifth inning Mercyhurst began to battle back scoring two runs, cutting The Rock's lead to 5-3.
SRU scored it's final run in the bottom of the sixth with a home run to center field from Saluga.
The score was 6-3 in favor of Slippery Rock heading in to the top of the seventh, when Mercyhurst managed to put a scare into the Rock defense. The Lakers scored two runs before Knight managed her 11th and final strikeout of the game to seal the 6-5 win.
Saluga and Beers had two RBIs each and Kaiser and
Jenna Geibel both added one.
In game two, Slippery Rock went 18-31 at bat led by Kaiser's perfect 5-for-5 effort that included seven RBIs and one game-ending home run.
Mercyhurst started the scoring action with four runs in the top of the second inning. With two outs in the bottom of the second, The Rock managed two runs. The bases were loaded when Kaiser singled to left field, scoring
Regan Cottrill. Geibel then reached first on an error from the shortstop and Saluga scored, making it a 4-2 game.
Breanna Tongel ripped a home run to center field to open the third inning and Slippery Rock earned two more runs with RBIs from Saluga and Kaiser to take a 5-4 lead.
Mercyhurst would score its final two runs of the game in the top of the fourth to regain a 6-5 lead.
The Lakers' saw the entire SRU lineup in a six-run fourth inning that swung momentum back to The Rock. The scoring started when
Ashley Samluk singled to score
Haley Sherer who was pinch running for Tongel.
Emily Lobdell then plated pinch runner
Savannah Barnes. Mercyhurst then made their second pitching change of the game, but saw four more runs from The Rock. Kaiser added two RBIs after the pitching change and
Taylor Welch and Tongel each added one. The inning ended with the score 11-6 in Slippery Rock's favor..
The Rock defense retired three batters in the top of the fifth and sent Mercyhurst home early in the bottom of the fifth. Welch plated the first run for SRU and Kaiser would end the game with a three-run home run well over the scoreboard in left-center field.
Lobdell earned the win on the mound and now has a 3-3 record. She saw 16 batters and only allowed four hits for two runs after relieving Knight in the second inning.
Saluga's average improves to .493 after the Mercyhurst sweep and she now has the highest batting average in the PSAC. Kaiser now ranks seventh in the PSAC with a .444 batting average.
Ashley Knight is sixth in the PSAC standings in strikeouts with 66, 18 of which were batters struck out looking.
Slippery Rock will travel to Lock Haven Sunday for a doubleheader set to start at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available on game day at:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/lhup/softball/xlive.htm
