SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team lost two games to Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition at Jack Critchfield Park Thursday afternoon.
The Slippery Rock (6-19, 1-5 PSAC West) offense was held in check in the doubleheader with just four combined runs on a total of six hits. Mercyhurst starting pitchers Colin McKee and Cam Knott combined to throw 24 strikeouts on the afternoon.
Slippery Rock was led by
Alex Bell,
Tyler Walters and
James Divosevic. The trio combined for all six Rock hits. Bell was a combined 2-for-6 on the day with one run, three RBI and one home run. Bell has now hit safely in 12 straight games. Walters and Divosevic were both 2-for-6 over the doubleheader. Walters, who had one extra base hit on the day, added two runs and one RBI as well.
GAME ONE: Mercyhurst 5 – Slippery Rock 2Mercyhurst (14-8, 3-1 PSAC West) carried a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning, but Slippery Rock managed to claw back into the contest when, with one runner on base, Bell rocketed his fifth homer of the season high over the left field fence to make it a one-run game at 3-2.
The Lakers responded with two runs in the fifth off of a solo home run by Chris Gonzalez and an RBI-single from Dante Balego to extend its lead to 5-2. McKee (4-1) didn't allow a hit the rest of the game and went on to strikeout eight of the game's final nine Rock batters to secure the victory for the Lakers.
Alex Pantuso (0-3) allowed five runs on eight hits while striking out two batters over four innings in the loss.
Stephen McKee gave The Rock another strong relief appearance, scattering one hit and one walk over three scoreless innings. McKee has now given up only one run in his last six innings pitched.
Bell, Walters and Divosevic were all 1-for-3 in game one.
GAME TWO: Mercyhurst 14 – Slippery Rock 2Game two started out promising for The Rock as starting pitcher
Jon Anderson (2-3) threw consecutive scoreless innings while SRU's bats tallied a pair of runs in the first by way of back-to-back RBI-doubles from Walters and Bell to give Slippery Rock a 2-0 lead over the Lakers through the first two innings.
However, things unraveled for Slippery Rock starting in the third inning when Mercyhurst scored four runs to take a two-run lead. Knott proceeded to toss eight strikeouts and allow just one hit over the next four innings while the Mercyhurst offense recorded three runs in the fifth, two runs in the sixth and five more in the seventh en route to the 14-2 win.
Anderson lasted 4.2 innings for SRU and was charged with seven runs allowed on 10 hits.
Andrew Null had four strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work to highlight The Rock's relief efforts.
Jay Cortese also threw an inning of relief, allowing five runs, only one of which was earned.
Wyatt Daugherty was going to be brought on for Cortese with two outs in the seventh, but Mercyhurst was found to have batted out of order, thus ending the inning before Daugherty could throw a pitch.
Bell, Walters and Divosevic were once again each 1-for-3. Walters' RBI was his team-leading 32nd of the season.
Slippery Rock will look to salvage a series split with two wins Saturday at Mercyhurst. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Erie, Pennsylvania.
