CLERMONT, Fla. – The Slippery Rock University softball team dropped a pair of games on the third day of the National Training Center Tournament from Clermont, Florida.
 
The Rock fell behind early and never recovered in a 13-4 loss to Concordia University-St. Paul in the opener, before suffering a 3-2 walk-off loss to Kutztown University in the nightcap.
 
Junior outfielder Megan Maloney led the SRU offense by going 2-for-5 with a run, RBI and stolen base on the day. Sophomore McKenzie Popatak went 3-for-6 with a double and a run scored, while senior Taylor Welch went 3-for-6 with a double to round out the top offensive performers for The Rock.
 
Freshman Brooke Dawson was saddled with her first loss after her shortest outing of the young season in game one, while fellow freshmen Marissa Harris and Paige Flore each saw action from the mound.
 
Sophomore Carly DeRose issued six walks but was able to put together a solid outing despite the loss. DeRose allowed three runs on four hits while striking out five in 6.2 innings pitched.
 
Game One: Concordia-St. Paul 13, Slippery Rock 4
Concordia wasted little time offensively, scoring four runs in the top of the first and two more in the second to take the early 6-0 advantage.
 
Slippery Rock stormed back with four runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a RBI double from sophomore Caitlin Baxter and a two-RBI single from freshman Lauren Hawley. Maloney capped the four-score inning by stealing home to bring The Rock within 6-4.
 
Concordia continued to pour it on, scoring two more in the third, three in the fourth and two in the sixth to take the game 13-4.
 
Game Two: Kutztown 3, Slippery Rock 2
Junior Katie Kaiser led off the top of the first with a triple and scored on a RBI single from Maloney to give Slippery Rock the early 1-0 lead over Kutztown.
 
Kutztown took the lead in the bottom of the third after capitalizing on a RBI double and sacrifice fly to take a 2-1 advantage after three innings.
 
Both pitchers settled in throughout the middle of the game as neither team scored until the seventh inning. Down to the final out for The Rock, Popatak staged a rally with a double to right center. Senior Alaynna Beers came up with a clutch RBI with two outs to knot the game at 2-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
 
A leadoff walk would prove to doom SRU, as Sienko smacked the walk-off hit to centerfield after a sacrifice bunt advanced the runner into scoring position, giving the Golden Bears the 3-2 victory.
 
Slippery Rock concludes its stay in Florida at the NTC Tournament Wednesday against Wayne State College (11 a.m.) and St. Cloud State University (3 p.m.).