Game 1 Box Score  I  Game 2 Box Score

CLERMONT, Fla. - The Slippery Rock University softball team repeated its opening day performance with another two-game split at the National Training Center Tournament in Clermont, Florida.
 
The Rock squandered a narrow lead late in the opening game against Tiffin University to fall to the Dragons 3-1, but rebounded with a 4-2 victory over Mercy College in the nightcap.
 
Junior first baseman Stacey Herzog led the way for SRU offensively, going 2-for-5 with two runs, a triple and a stolen base on the day. Senior outfielder Alaynna Beers complimented Herzog by going 2-for-4 with a triple and a RBI on the day.
 
Sophomore pitcher Carly DeRose was tagged with the hard-luck loss after allowing three runs (3 ER) on six hits, three walks and a pair of strikeouts in a complete game performance.
 
Freshman pitcher Brooke Dawson continued her impressive start to her collegiate career and improved to 2-0 on the season after allowing two runs (1 ER) on five hits, a walk and four strikeouts over six strong innings. Sophomore Sarah Petrash pitched a scoreless seventh inning to receive her first save of the spring.
 
Game One: Tiffin 3 – Slippery Rock 1
Beers scooted around the bases for a go-ahead RBI triple in the bottom of the second, scoring Herzog to give The Rock an early 1-0 lead over the Dragons.
 
DeRose faced the minimum amount of batters for three consecutive innings before Tiffin mounted a comeback in the top of the sixth. A walk and a steal set up a two-out RBI single that snuck through the infield and knotted the game at 1-1.
 
The Dragons set down The Rock 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth and put three straight runners on base in the top of the seventh after a pair of infield singles and a walk loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly gave Tiffin the go-ahead run, before another two-out RBI single gave the Dragons an insurance run at 3-1.
 
Slippery Rock's bats were set down in order in the bottom of the frame, giving the Dragons the 3-1 victory.
 
Game Two: Slippery Rock 4 – Mercy 2
The Rock jumped in front in the bottom of the second after Herzog led off with a triple and scored on a RBI single from freshman Lauren Hawley. A single and a sacrifice fly from senior second baseman Taylor Welch capped the two-run inning as SRU took the early 2-0 advantage.
 
Slippery Rock added another run in the third after an error and walk put runners on the corners with two outs. The Rock's aggressive base running produced a run as junior Megan Maloney came around to score and put SRU up 3-0 after three.
 
Mercy scored a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but Slippery Rock loaded the bases and scored an insurance run with two outs as sophomore Caitlin Baxter was hit by a pitch. Dawson preserved the 4-2 lead until the seventh, when Petrash took the mound and set down the Mavericks in order to pick up the save.
 
Slippery Rock takes a day off Monday before returning to action in the National Training Center Tournament Tuesday against Concordia University-St. Paul (3 p.m.) and Kutztown University (5 p.m.).