JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team opened its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division schedule on a down note Saturday afternoon with a pair of losses against Pitt-Johnstown at Point Stadium.
Pitt-Johnstown (9-10, 2-0 PSAC West) bested Slippery Rock (5-16, 0-2) 14-3 in game one before completing the doubleheader sweep with a narrow 2-1 victory in game two.
Alex Bell and
Ty Zimmerman led slippery Rock on the day. Bell went a combined 2-for-5 with one run scored, three RBI and one home run over the two games while Zimmerman was 3-for-6 with two runs, one RBI, one double and one home run.
Bell, who has now hit safely in eight straight games, currently ranks second on the team in both home runs (four) and RBI (21). Zimmerman, who is batting .354 from his spot atop The Rock's batting order, leads the team in runs scored with 21 and ranks second in hits with 29.
GAME ONE: Pitt-Johnstown 14 – Slippery Rock 3The Mountain Cats tallied 11 runs in the first inning of game one and never looked back. Nine of Pitt-Johnstown's 11 runs in the opening inning were unearned as Slippery Rock committed three fielding errors early on.
UPJ added one more score in the second inning to take a 12-0 lead. SRU avoided the shutout with a three-run fourth inning thanks to a leadoff home run by Zimmerman and a two-run homer by Bell later in the frame. However, The Rock managed just one more hit over the final three innings, a single by
Mitchell Wood in the fifth, as Pitt-Johnstown cruised to the win.
Frankie Jezioro and
Christian Porterfield each recorded base hits as well with Jezioro also scoring one run to go with the hits from Zimmerman, Bell and Wood to round out The Rock's top offensive performers.
Alex Pantuso (0-2) was the pitcher of record for SRU. He gave up 11 runs, only two of which were earned, on five hits, three walks and four wild pitches before leaving the game with two outs in the first inning.
Andrew Null came on in relief of Pantuso to record the final out of the first inning.
Jay Cortese threw the remaining five innings, scattering three runs on five walks and four hits.
GAME TWO: Pitt-Johnstown 2 – Slippery Rock 1Slippery Rock wasted little time getting started in game two as SRU jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to the combination of Zimmerman and Bell. Zimmerman led off the game with a double, advanced to third base on a
Tyler Walters single and eventually scored off of a Bell base hit.
Errors once again plagued Slippery Rock in second inning. UPJ tied the game with one run thanks in large part to two miscues in the field by SRU. Starting pitcher
Jon Anderson regrouped following the second inning and threw four straight scoreless innings, keeping Slippery Rock in the game.
However, the Slippery Rock bats struggled the rest of the day. UPJ starter Camden Hess only surrendered two more hits over the next five innings and Ty Treaster tossed a scoreless seventh inning in relief.
With the score tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning; Anderson recorded one quick out before allowing a single by Dillion Boyer. However, Anderson responded with a strikeout of Nate Negri, but Boyer proceeded to steal second base and went on to score the following at-bat when another Rock error allowed Jake Stern to reach base and Boyer to come home for the game-winning run.
Anderson (2-2) concluded the day with two strikeouts, and two unearned runs allowed. In five starts, Anderson has only allowed more than two runs in a game once.
Zimmerman was 2-for-3 with one run scored at the plate in the nightcap for SRU. Walters, Bell and
James Divosevic accounted for The Rock's other three hits. All three men also reached base via walks.
Slippery Rock will look to salvage the series with a two wins Sunday when The Rock hosts the Mountain Cats for a doubleheader at CONSOL Energy Park in Washington, Pennsylvania. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
