CALIFORNIA, Pa.- The Slippery Rock University softball team broke No. 10 California (Pa.)'s 27-game win streak and handed the nationally ranked Vulcans its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division loss of the season in a doubleheader split Sunday afternoon at Lilley Field in California, Pennsylvania.
The Rock took game one, 1-0, in dramatic fashion thanks to a solo home run by
Caitlin Baxter in the fourth inning and a two-out chase down to get out of a potential bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the seventh. California turned things around in game two with an 8-0 win in five innings.
The victory over the Vulcans is Slippery Rock's second win over a nationally ranked team this season; SRU also beat No. 20 Winona State, 6-4, on March 8. The Rock's win over the Vulcans was SRU's first since defeating California, 6-4, during the 2012 season.
With four games remaining on its regular season schedule, SRU is 19-18 overall and 8-8 in the PSAC West, good enough for third place the division standings and two games ahead of both Seton Hill (12-24, 5-9 PSAC West) and Edinboro (11-17, 5-9 PSAC West). The top three teams in Western, Eastern and Central divisions qualify for the PSAC Tournament. SRU has not qualified for the conference tournament since 2009. The Rock also has a realistic chance of catching Gannon (18-14, 10-6 PSAC West), for second place in the PSAC West standings.
Brooke Dawson threw her second shutout of the weekend in the opener. She struck out one and scattered five hits en route to her fourth shutout of the season. Dawson, who started the season at 2-6, has clawed her way up to an 8-7 record while lowering her ERA down to 2.27.
The nationally ranked Vulcans are now 28-2 overall and 15-1 in PSAC West games. The game-one loss also marked California's first regular-season PSAC West loss since falling to Pitt-Johnstown exactly one year ago on April 17, 2015.
Game One: Slippery Rock 1, California 0Dawson and California starter Alex Sagl (13-2) set the tone for game one early on as each pitcher gave up just one hit over the opening two innings.
The first real scoring opportunity for either team occurred in the top of third inning when
Megan Maloney and
Katie Kaiser connected on back-to-back one-out singles before Sagl got out of the jam with consecutive outs to end the inning.
However she would not be as fortunate in the fourth inning as Baxter led the inning off with a solo home run, her fourth of the year, in what proved to be the game-winning run.
Dawson cruised through the fourth and fifth innings following Baxter's home run and got out of a two-on, two-out situation in the sixth by inducing her ninth fly out of the contest.
The Vulcans seemed poised to sneak away with the win in the bottom of the seventh when with one out and runners on first and second, California's Emilee Downing had a hit to shallow right field, but the Slippery Rock defense caught both runners on the play as
Emily Nagle gunned down the lead runner at third base followed by
Ashley Samluk throwing out the trail runner who was trying to return to second base with a throw to Kaiser, who applied the tag for the game's final out while covering second base.
Baxter finished the contest 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI via her solo home run. Kaiser and Maloney registered SRU's other two hits.
Game Two: California 8, Slippery Rock 0 (5 Innings)California regrouped in game two to limit The Rock to just two hits while scoring eight runs over the first and second innings on the way to its 8-0 five-inning victory.
Nagle and
Lauren Hawley both produced hits for Slippery Rock.
Carly DeRose (8-6) took the loss in the nightcap after surrendering five runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Paige Flore came on in relief of DeRose to finish the game, allowing three runs on six hits over 3.1 innings.
Slippery Rock hosts Gannon in a key PSAC West doubleheader Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. Prior to the game Slippery Rock will recognize the 2016 senior class for their contributions to the program over their careers.
