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RALEIGH, N.C. – The Slippery Rock University Softball team (2-3) swept a pair of games Sunday afternoon to conclude the Shaw University Softball Challenge.
 
The Rock wasted little time in the opener against Winston-Salem State, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on single by Ashley Samluk. The Lady Rams answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 lead into the second.

McKenzie Popatak doubled to centerfield to start off the second inning and later scored on an RBI double by Megan Maloney, knotting the game at 2-2. Eliza Sykes kept the inning alive with an RBI single before Emily Lobdell capped the three-run outburst with an RBI single of her own, giving The Rock a 4-2 advantage.

Winston-Salem scratched out two runs in the sixth inning to tie the game at 4-4, but The Rock responded with a run in the top of the seventh to regain a 5-4 lead.

Lobdell struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to record the complete game victory. She finished with a line of seven innings, 10 hits, four earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts.

Popatak went two for four with a double and two runs scored to lead the offensive attack. Maloney went two for three with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Sykes was also two for three with a run scored and an RBI.
 
Slippery Rock finished the tournament strong with a 3-2 victory over West Virginia State, the favorite to win the Mountain East Conference.

The Rock recorded four consecutive two-out hits in the fourth inning to plate two runs and take a 2-0 lead over the Yellow Jackets.

West Virginia State tied the game at 2-2 with a two-run homerun from Victoria Crawford in the fifth inning.

Lindsey Kelenske led off the seventh inning with a double and scored the game-winning run on an RBI single from Katie Kaiser.

Freshman Carly DeRose led The Rock past the Yellow Jackets to record her first career win and complete game, allowing just three hits and two runs.
 
With the wins, Slippery Rock improves to 2-3 after the opening weekend of the 2014 season.
 
The Rock returns to action Friday, March 15 for the start of a 10-game spring break trip in Clermont, Fl.