SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader Sunday at Bloomsburg University. The Rock won game one in convincing fashion, 9-1, but lost game two, 4-3.
 
The split moves The Rock's record to 25-16 on the season. Sunday's results combined with a four-game sweep of Clarion earlier in the weekend ensured Slippery Rock of a 21st consecutive season without a losing record. Bloomsburg is now 12-18 in 2015.
 
Ty Zimmerman went 5-for-8 with two runs and five RBI to lead SRU against the Huskies. Adam Urbania extended his hitting streak to 28 games with three hits and two RBI on the day. Logan Brown was an impressive 3-for-5 in the doubleheader, including three runs, one home run and a double. Nine of The Rock's 20 hits Sunday were doubles.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 9 – Bloomsburg 1
The opener was never in doubt as Slippery Rock starting pitcher Alex Pantuso stymied Bloomsburg's hitters, just missing out on his first collegiate shutout, while The Rock scored runs in five of seven innings en route to the 9-1 win.
 
Pantuso (3-2) navigated around five hits and five walks to strikeout out seven batters and allow just one run over 6.1 innings of work to improve to 3-2 in 2015. The outing was the longest of Pantuso's freshman season. His seven strikeouts matched a season-high, which he set in a last start against Shippensburg on April 14. Pantuso has only allowed three runs in his last 11.1 innings pitched.
 
Even though he didn't need it, Slippery Rock's bats provided Pantuso with plenty of runs, starting with a two-run single up the middle by Zimmerman in the second. Tyler Walters and Urbania proceeded to launch back-to-back doubles for another run in the third inning before Zimmerman and Urbania once again tallied run-scoring hits in the fourth to give The Rock a commanding 5-0 lead through four innings.
 
Brown homered to leadoff the fifth while Jordan Faretta and Zimmerman added three insurance runs in the seventh when Faretta ripped an RBI-single to centerfield and Zimmerman collected his fourth RBI of the game off of a double in the next at-bat.
 
Pantuso loaded the bases to start the seventh inning and left the game after forcing a groundout that scored Bloomsburg's lone run of the game. James Divosevic came on in relief of Pantuso and threw consecutive strikeouts to close out the game.
 
Zimmerman went 3-for-4 with one run, two doubles and four RBI. Brown and Urbania registered two hits each with Urbania driving in two runs and Brown scoring three times. Brown's home run was his eighth of the year.
 
GAME TWO: Bloomsburg 4 – Slippery Rock 3
Slippery Rock was unable to hang on to an early three-run lead as Bloomsburg scored four unanswered runs to take game two and end the day with a doubleheader split against The Rock.
 
SRU scored a pair of runs to start the nightcap. Zimmerman and Walters led off the game with back-to-back hits to give The Rock a pair of runners with one out. Following a double steal in which Zimmerman stole home and Walters took second, Brown connected on an RBI-double to give Slippery Rock a 2-0 advantage.
 
Zimmerman continued his big day in the second inning when he hit a run-scoring single to centerfield that plated Carson Kessler, who led off the inning with a double, to extend The Rock's lead to 3-0.
 
Rock starting pitcher Stephen Mckee threw two shutout innings to begin the game before Bloomsburg cut into The Rock's lead with a two-run third inning. Mckee regrouped to toss another shutout inning in the fourth and exit the game with a 3-2 lead after scattering six hits and three walks in 73 pitches.
 
However, Slippery Rock was unable to close out the contest as Bloomsburg pitcher Jared Schaffer, who allowed just three Rock hits over the final three innings, shutdown The Rock's normally potent offense.
 
With Schaffer keeping the Slippery Rock offense quiet, Bloomsburg used a two-run single with two outs in the fifth by Brian Almand off of relief pitcher Geoff Sanner to take its first lead of the day at 4-3 with two innings to play.
 
SRU's best chance to score the tying run came in the seventh when Jake Nogalo and Christian Porterfield led off the inning with a single and double, respectively, to put runners on second and third with no outs. But Schaffer managed to hold off The Rock's comeback bid by forcing three consecutive outs to secure the one-run victory.
 
Zimmerman went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Brown had The Rock's other RBI in the contest.
 
Sanner fell to 2-1 on the year after giving up two runs on four hits in two innings. Schaffer (2-2) earned the complete-game victory for the Huskies.
 
Slippery Rock closes out its regular season with a four-game series against PSAC-West foe Pitt-Johnstown starting with a home doubleheader Friday at Jack Critchfield Park. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.