EDINBORO, Pa.- The Slippery Rock University softball team dropped a pair of games at Edinboro Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from the Gierlak Gardens.
The Fighting Scots exploded for five runs midway through the opener and went on to defeat The Rock 5-2, before securing a close 8-7 victory in game two to pick up the sweep.
With the losses, Slippery Rock falls to 19-20 on the season and 8-10 in conference action. Meanwhile, Edinboro improved to 14-20 overall and 8-12 in league play.
Heading in to the final day of the regular season Slippery Rock can still qualify for the PSAC Tournament in a number of ways.
If Seton Hill University (16-24, 9-9 PSAC West) loses both of its games against California (Pa.) on Sunday then Slippery Rock could earn a spot in the conference tournament with a doubleheader split against Gannon. If SHU were to go 1-1 against California, then SRU would need to sweep Gannon in order to qualify for the PSAC Tournament.
The possibility also remains that Slippery Rock could earn a tournament berth over Gannon as well. The Golden Knights dropped both games in a doubleheader to California Saturday and will enter Sunday's game with SRU with a PSAC West record of 9-9. If Slippery Rock can defeate Gannon twice Sunday it would earn a tournament berth over the Golden Knights.
Katie Kaiser picked up multiple hits in each game to finish the day with a five-for-nine performance from the plate with one home run, two runs scored and four RBI.
Emily Nagle went five-for-eight with two RBI, while
Megan Maloney went five-for-seven with two runs and an RBI.
Game One: Edinboro 5, Slippery Rock 2
After three innings of play in the opener, Edinboro led The Rock 5-0 after scoring one run apiece in the first and second innings and three runs in the third.
Stacey Herzog got things going for The Rock in the fourth inning with a double to right field. Maloney recorded an RBI single up the middle three batters later to score Herzog from third, after advancing there on a bunt by
Megan Brown. Kaiser cut Edinboro's lead to three runs with her 25th RBI of the season on a single to right field that scored Brown from second base.
In each of the final three innings,
Carly DeRose sat the Fighting Scots down 1-2-3, however SRU was unable to get the offense going, as Edinboro held on to take game one, 5-2.
Maloney and Kaiser had two hits and one RBI apiece for The Rock in the opener.
SRU starter
Brooke Dawson (8-8) was tagged with the loss after striking out three and giving up five runs in three complete innings. DeRose struck out four in her three hitless innings of relief work.
Game Two: Edinboro 8, Slippery Rock 7
In the night cap, the Fighting Scots got out to an early 6-0 lead after two innings before The Rock rallied with five straight runs, started by Nagle's RBI single to score Maloney in the third inning.
Kaiser continued chipping away at the The Rock's deficit with her eighth home run of the season on a three-run shot in the top of the fourth.
Caitlin Baxter started the fifth inning by doubling to left center and advancing to third on the throw after Herzog's fly out to right field.
Lauren Hawley scored Baxter on a sacrifice fly to right field to make the score 6-5. Edinboro scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to stretch their lead back to two runs.
Slippery Rock and Edinboro exchanged individual runs in the sixth inning and Nagle recorded her second RBI of the game in the seventh inning, but Taylor Payne got her second save of the season for the Fighting Scots by leaving two SRU runners on base.
Nagle was four-for-four from the plate to lead The Rock. Kaiser and Maloney had three hits and two runs each, while
Allie Fischer had two hits.
DeRose (8-7) took the loss in the night cap. She struck out four and surrendered nine hits across six innings.
The Rock will host Gannon tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the SRU Softball Complex. In between games, the 2016 senior class will be recognized in a short ceremony.
