CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team dropped a pair of close contests at California (Pa.) in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division play Sunday afternoon.
 
The Rock nearly upset the Vulcans, who are receiving votes in the latest national poll. SRU allowed six late runs in the opener to fall 7-5, before Cal U grinded out a narrow lead and hung on for a 4-3 win in the nightcap.
 
With the wins, California improved to 8-4 overall and 2-0 in PSAC play, while Slippery Rock fell to 4-10 overall and 1-3 in league action.
 
Senior Alaynna Beers paced the offense for the day, going 2-for-7 with a double, three RBI and a run scored. Junior Stacey Herzog went 2-for-5 with a run and a RBI, while senior Taylor Welch picked up a pair of hits and a RBI.
 
Game One: California 7 – Slippery Rock 5
Slippery Rock jumped out to an early lead after a RBI double to right-center from Welch. An infield single from Sykes plated The Rock's second run and pushed the early lead to 2-0 in favor of SRU.
 
A solo shot down the right field line from Heyd cut The Rock's lead in half, but SRU answered with three runs in the top of the fifth after freshman Lauren Hawley notched a RBI single and Beers followed with a two-RBI double, putting The Rock ahead 5-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
 
The Vulcans struck right back, however, capitalizing on a hit-by-pitch and untimely SRU error as they scored five runs to take a 6-5 lead over Slippery Rock. Price highlighted the inning with a three-RBI double that emptied the bases and put Cal U ahead 6-5.
 
The Rock went quietly in the sixth, before a solo blast from Jahoda gave the Vulcans breathing room and led to the eventual final score of 7-5 in favor of California.

Beers highlighted the game for The Rock with a double and two RBI. Six different Rock players recorded a hit and five players notched a run.
 
Freshman Marissa Harris received the no-decision after allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and a strikeout in 5.1 innings pitched. Sophomore Carly DeRose was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on four hits and a pair of walks in 0.2 innings.
 
Game 2: California 4 – Slippery Rock 3
The Vulcans took an early lead on a solo shot from Reicoff in the first inning and added a run in the third to take a 2-0 advantage after three.
 
Freshman Allie Fischer smoked a two-out RBI single to centerfield to cut the lead in half, before Morris smacked a two-run home run to centerfield to push Cal U's lead to 4-1 in the fifth.
 
Slippery Rock went quietly in the sixth, but mounted a comeback in their last at-bats. With two outs, three straight SRU batters reached base to set up the dramatics. Beers came through with a RBI single to keep the rally alive and Stacey Herzog delivered a RBI single up the middle to bring The Rock within one, but the game-tying run was thrown out at the plate and halted the SRU rally, handing SRU a 4-3 defeat.
 
Harris (0-2) was tagged with her second loss of the day after allowing four runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings pitched.
 
Up Next:
Slippery Rock is scheduled to return to action Tuesday in its home-opener against Pitt-Johnstown. First pitch of the double header from the SRU Softball Complex is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.