Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
 
WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team lost a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division games to California University (Pa.) on Sunday at CONSOL Energy Park in Washington, Pennsylvania.
 
California (10-11, 7-3 PSAC-West) took game one with a narrow 1-0 victory before claiming a 13-6 win in game two thanks to a huge fifth inning.
 
Junior Jordan Faretta paced Slippery Rock on Sunday with a combined three hits in four at-bats.
 
A leadoff home run by California's Mick Fennell in the bottom of the first inning was all Vulcan pitcher Justin Taylor (1-1) needed in CU's one-run win in the opener.
 
Outside of the home run, Slippery Rock senior pitcher Ryan Oglesby (2-2) was nearly unhittable on the day. In six innings, Oglesby only gave up three hits and one run while striking out five batters in the loss.
 
Slippery Rock had seven hits in the game with Faretta leading the way via a 2-for-3 performance. SRU left a total of eight runners on base including two runners in the first, fourth and fifth innings, respectively.
 
Down to its final three outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Faretta led off the frame with a single to put the tying run on base. However, Taylor managed to get out of the jam by recording three consecutive outs to end The Rock's comeback bid and give the Vulcans the 1-0 victory.
 
While game one was a pitcher's duel, the nightcap was a slugfest that saw Slippery Rock and California trade big innings with the Vulcans eventually posting the 13-6 win to earn the sweep.
 
Trailing 1-0, Slippery Rock tallied an impressive six runs in the fifth inning. Following a leadoff-double by freshman Tyler Walters, junior Kyle Vozar started the scoring with an RBI-single that gave way to the a home run by freshman Christian Porterfield, the first of his collegiate career. Two outs later, sophomore Preston Falascino and senior Adam Urbania connected on back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Junior Alex Bell capped off the inning with a three-run homer over the left field wall that gave SRU a seemingly commanding 6-1 edge.
 
However, the lead would be short lived as California proceeded to answer back in the bottom half of the inning with 12 runs off of 12 hits. Slippery Rock was unable to respond in the sixth and seventh innings as California relief pitcher Cory Craig, who came on for Jack Dennis (2-0) in the sixth, threw two shutout innings to finish off the sweep.
 
Slippery Rock strung together 11 hits in game two. Porterfield and sophomore Logan Brown had a team-high two hits apiece while Bell's three RBI were a Rock-best as well.
 
Kyle Schneider (2-3) took the loss on the mound after surrendering seven runs on eight hits and one walk in four innings.
 
Slippery Rock and California will conclude its four-game series with a doubleheader on Monday at Jack Critchfield Park. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 2 p.m.