BRISTOL, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team concluded its four-game series at King University by splitting a doubleheader Saturday with KU at the King Baseball Field in Bristol, Tennessee.
 
Slippery Rock dropped game one to King (2-8), 15-6, before rebounding with a 12-10 win in game two. SRU exits its opening weekend of the season with a record of 3-1.
 
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Logan Brown and junior second baseman Jordan Faretta paced the high-powered Rock offense on the day. In two games, Faretta was 4-for-7 with two runs, four RBI and one double. Brown connected on Slippery Rock's first home run of 2015 in a 4-for-7, one-run, two-RBI performance Saturday.
 
Senior Garret Peterson earned his first win of the season after allowing four runs on three hits and striking out two batters in game two. Redshirt junior Geoff Sanner struck out three King hitters and did not allow a run in 1.1 innings of work to close out the victory with a save. Senior Anton Constantino (0-1) was the pitcher of Record for Slippery Rock in game one.
 
Game One: King 15 – Slippery Rock 6
Slippery Rock couldn't overcome a six-run fourth inning by King in its 15-6 loss in game one.
 
Trailing 2-0 early on, Slippery Rock rallied back with one run in the second inning and three more in the third.
 
Brown sent a 2-0 pitch over the fence in the top of the second while King walked one run in with the bases loaded in the third followed by a sacrifice fly by Faretta that scored senior outfielder Adam Urbania and an RBI-single to right field by sophomore first baseman Carson Kessler that brought in junior catcher Alex Bell to give The Rock a 3-1 edge through two and a half innings.
 
However, King responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame followed by the decisive six runs in the fourth as well as two more in the fifth to take a 13-4 lead. Slippery Rock added runs in both the sixth and seventh, but would never threaten King and eventually took a 15-6 loss.
 
 Kessler finished game one 2-for-3 with two RBI.
 
Game Two: Slippery Rock 12 – King 10
Slippery Rock came alive for its highest scoring inning of the season to start game two when The Rock produced six runs in the first inning.
 
Senior third baseman Jake Nogalo doubled to start the game and was quickly brought home by sophomore third baseman Preston Falascino, who knocked a triple to right field before scoring on a King throwing error. Faretta and sophomore outfielder James Divosevic added matching RBI-singles and Nogalo capped off the inning with a two-run hit in his second at-bat of the stanza.
 
King got to Peterson for four runs in the second, but the senior quickly settled down and tossed two shutout innings in the third and fourth before giving way to the SRU bullpen with The Rock leading by two runs.
 
Slippery Rock continued to score in bunches when it came away with five runs in the sixth inning to take a seemingly safe 11-4 lead. The inning featured consecutive run-scoring singles by freshman designated hitter Tyler Walters, Faretta, junior first baseman Kyle Vozar and freshman catcher Christian Porterfield. Vozar also put an exclamation mark on the inning by scoring on a fielders choice created by Divosevic.
 
However, King regrouped from The Rock's scoring barrage by answering with six runs of its own in the bottom of the sixth off of relief pitcher Alex Pantuso. Now clinging to its 11-10 lead in the seventh, Faretta delivered a clutch two-out single with the bases loaded that brought in Nogalo, who walked to leadoff the inning, to give SRU an additional run heading into the final half inning.
 
After giving up a leadoff hit, Sanner, who entered the game to get the final out in the sixth, went on to strike out a pair of batters before walking a King hitter. With two outs and the go-ahead run at the plate Sanner tossed his third strikeout of the frame, fanning Moises Soto to seal The Rock's two-run win.
 
Five different Rock players had multi-hit games in the nightcap with Brown and Faretta both registering a trio of hits. Faretta also had three RBI.
 
Slippery Rock will look to keep up its impressive start to the season when it travels to Sutherland, Virginia next weekend for four neutral site games. Slippery Rock will play Alderson-Broaddus and Post University on Feb. 21 as well as a doubleheader against Concordia on Feb. 22.