SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team swept Indiana (Pa.) in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader Sunday afternoon from the SRU Softball Complex.
 
Slippery Rock took game one, 9-8 in nine innings before rolling to a 13-6 victory in game two.
 
With the wins, Slippery Rock improves to 7-11 overall and 4-4 in conference play, while IUP drops to 2-10 overall and 0-2 in league action.
 
Freshman Lauren Hawley led the offense, going 5-for-9 on the day with three runs, three RBI, a double and a homerun. Junior Katie Kaiser continued her torrid play in conference games, going 4-for-10 with two runs, three RBI and a homerun. Senior Alaynna Beers went 4-for-9 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI. Junior Stacey Herzog capped the top offensive performers for SRU by going 3-for-9 with four runs, two RBI, a double and homerun.
 
Sophomore Carly DeRose (4-5) registered a complete game victory in the opener after allowing eight runs (five earned) on 11 hits and five strikeouts in 9.0 innings.
 
Freshman Brooke Dawson (3-4) picked up the win in the nightcap after allowing six runs on seven hits and seven strikeouts across 7.0 innings pitched.
 
Game One: Slippery Rock 9 – Indiana 8 (Nine innings)
Slippery Rock scored the first run of the game on a pair of IUP errors in the bottom of the third, but the Crimson Hawks answered with a pair in the top of the fourth to go ahead 2-1. The Rock responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth on consecutive hits from Eliza Sykes, Kaiser and Megan Maloney to take a 4-2 lead.
 
The teams traded a pair of runs in the fifth to make the score 6-4 in favor of The Rock, before IUP plated three runs in the sixth to take the lead 7-6. Ashley Samluk knotted the game at 7-7 with a two-out RBI in the bottom half of the sixth as the teams went to extra innings.
 
The Crimson Hawks regained the lead on a RBI single in the eighth, but Maloney gunned out a runner at home to keep SRU within one at 8-7. The Rock loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the frame and scored on a sacrifice fly from Samluk to tie the game, but stranded the remaining runners to send the game to the ninth.
 
With two outs and the bases loaded, Beers delivered the walk-off hit on a RBI single to centerfield, giving SRU the 9-8 victory.
 
Game Two: Slippery Rock 13 – Indiana 6
Herzog gave Slippery Rock an early lead with a two-run homerun in the bottom of the first. Kaiser pushed the lead to 4-0 in the third with a two-run shot, before Taylor Welch delivered a two-out RBI to give SRU a 5-0 lead heading to the fourth.
 
Indiana struck back with a pair of runs in the fourth and added another in the fifth to cut Slippery Rock's lead to 5-3, but The Rock exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead 10-5, highlighted by back-to-back homeruns from Welch and Hawley.
 
The Crimson Hawks crept back into the game in the top of the sixth on a three-run homerun from Mercer, but Slippery Rock answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to extinguish the Indiana rally. Hawley knocked a RBI double to left center before a pinch-hit two RBI single from Caitlin Baxter.
 
Dawson set down the side in order to  give Slippery Rock the sweep with a 13-6 victory.
 
Up Next:
Slippery Rock continues its home stand Tuesday, March 31 against Gannon. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. from the SRU Softball Complex.