SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team was swept in a non-conference doubleheader against Shepherd University at Jack Critchfield Park Tuesday afternoon.
 
Shepherd (25-9), which competes in the Mountain East Conference, earned a narrow 5-3 win in the opener before taking game two from Slippery Rock (9-32) 12-4.
 
Preston Falascino and Frankie Jezioro both had excellent days for The Rock. After striking out six batters and allowing just one earned run over 6.1 innings on the mound in game one, Falascino proceeded to go 2-for-3 with two runs scored one RBI, one double and one home run in game two. Falascino's home run was his second in the last four games. Jezioro combined to go 3-for-6 with one RBI and two walks over the doubleheader.
 
GAME ONE: Shepherd 5 – Slippery Rock 3
A pair of Rock fielding errors resulted in three runs in what turned out to be a decisive third inning for Shepherd in the Rams' 5-3 victory in game one.
 
Trailing 1-0 early on, Slippery Rock posted a pair of runs in the second inning thanks to run-scoring hits by Mitchell Wood and Jezioro. Wood laced a double to centerfield that scored Joe Campagna, who doubled to lead off the inning, before scoring later in the inning off of Jezioro's RBI-single to give The Rock a 2-1 lead.
 
Shepherd countered with its aforementioned three-run third inning to take back the lead at 4-2. SRU responded and made it a one-run game when the combination of Campagna and Wood produced another Rock run in the fourth. Campagna doubled to lead off the inning and was brought home one batter later thanks to a single by Wood.
 
However, the one-run deficit would be as close as Slippery Rock would get. SRU left two runners on base in the fifth inning and the bases loaded in the sixth while Shepherd added an insurance run in the top of the seventh.
 
Slippery Rock once again put itself in position to tie the game by loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but Shepherd relief pitcher Dan Galati was able to get out of the jam to preserve the 5-3 Ram win.
 
Falascino left the game after 6.1 innings pitched. Stephen McKee recorded the final two outs of the game for SRU in his first of two appearances on the day.
 
Campagna and Wood both went 2-for-3 with Campagna scoring two runs and Wood tallying two RBI. Jezioro, Tyler Walters, Alex Bell, Carson Kessler and Kyle Wise all recorded hits as well.
 
SRU left 13 runners on base in the opener.
 
GAME TWO: Shepherd 12 – Slippery Rock 4
Shepherd scored 10 runs over the first two innings of game two and Slippery Rock could never recover from the early Ram outburst in its 12-4 loss in the nightcap.
 
Slippery Rock began to cut into the Rams' lead with four unanswered runs over a three-inning span. The mini rally started with Falascino's solo home run in the second inning. SRU's second run came on a double play groundout with the bases loaded in the third. Jordan Faretta then plated Wise from third base with an infield single in the fourth; Falascino also scored on the play off of a Shepherd throwing error.
 
The comeback bid ended in the fourth inning as Shepherd's Dan Heleine hit a two-run home run in the fifth while SU's pitchers held SRU to just one hit over the final three innings to ensure the 12-4 win.
 
Jezioro, Falascino and Faretta all had two hits in game two with both of Falascino's going for extra bases in the form of a home run and a double.
 
Jay Cortese (0-2) was the pitcher of record for SRU. He allowed four runs on three hits and three walks in one inning pitched. Wyatt Daugherty, Andrew Null, Josh Coleman and McKee, who held Shepherd hitless in his two innings pitched, also saw time on the mound in relief.
 
Slippery Rock returns to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division play Friday at Seton Hill University. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.