SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team earned a doubleheader split against Seton Hill University Sunday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division play at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
Following a 9-3 loss to Seton Hill (33-12, 7-7 PSAC West) in the opener, Slippery Rock (10-35, 5-19 PSAC West) rallied to pick up a 12-7 win in game two to earn the split.
 
A quintet of Rock batters had big days against Seton Hill, one of the top teams in the entire PSAC.
 
Leadoff hitter Ty Zimmerman combined to go 5-fo-8 with two runs, two RBI and three doubles over the doubleheader. James Divosevic was 4-for-7 with one run and three RBI on the afternoon. Cleanup hitter Alex Bell was 6-for-7 with four runs scored. Tyler Walters hit one home run and had two RBI while Preston Falascino rounded out the top contributors with one home run and four RBI.
 
Walters' homer was his team-leading 12th of the season and 25th of his career, which ranks fifth in Rock history. Heading into the final weekend of the season, Bell and Walters are tied for the team lead in RBI with 44 apiece. Falascino has now hit three home runs in his last seven games played.
 
GAME ONE: Seton Hill 9 – Slippery Rock 3
The Griffins scored the game's first six runs on the way to a 9-3 win in the opener.
 
Slippery Rock broke Seton Hill's shutout bid in the fourth inning with back-to-back two-out run-scoring hits by Divosevic and Falascino. Slippery Rock added its third run of the day in the sixth off of a Divosevic RBI-groundout that scored Bell, who singled to leadoff the inning and advanced to third on a Joe Campagna double.
 
However, Seton Hill, which had already scored a run in the fifth inning, pushed two more runs home in the seventh to seal the win. Zimmerman and Bell each had two hits in the loss.
 
Matt Gordon (4-4) took the loss on the mound after allowing seven runs on nine hits and striking out five in five innings. Andrew Null and Josh Coleman combined to pitch the remaining two innings out of The Rock's bullpen.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 12 – Seton Hill 7
Seton Hill carried a 5-1 lead on The Rock through two and a half innings before Slippery Rock fought back to score 11 runs over the following four innings en route to the comeback-victory.
 
The Rally started in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs as Bell drove a single through the left side of the infield to bring in Divosevic, who singled earlier in the inning, while Walters added the second run of the frame when he scored off of a wild pitch.
 
SRU completely erased Seton Hill's lead in the fourth inning by way of an RBI-double from Zimmerman and a run-scoring single from Divosevic. Ray Scala scored from first base on Zimmerman's double, who in turn came home off of Divosevic's base hit.
 
Slippery Rock's surge continued in the fifth inning with four more runs. Bell and Frankie Jezioro both reached base to start the inning before scoring thanks to a Falascino home run that easily cleared the right field wall. The Rock then made it a 9-5 game later in the inning when Zimmerman laced yet another double, this time scoring Christian Porterfield from second base.
 
While SRU's offense was busy getting back into the contest, starting pitcher Shawn Holman (1-4) rebounded from a shaky first three innings to hold Seton Hill scoreless in the fourth and fifth.
 
Seton Hill briefly interrupted The Rock's onslaught with two runs in the sixth, but SRU put any thoughts of a Griffin comeback to rest with three runs in the bottom half of the inning off of a Walters solo home run and a two-run, two-out double by Porterfield.
 
Holman struck out the first SHU batter in the seventh before a Mark Malacane double and Chris Miller being hit by a pitch put runners on first and second with no outs. However, Falascino, a third baseman, ended the game the following batter by picking off a line drive off the bat Mike Colella and then catching Malacane trying to get back to second with a great throw for the contest's final out.
 
Holman had five strikeouts while scattering nine hits and seven runs over seven innings for what was his first complete-game victory of the season.
 
Slippery Rock produced 17 hits in the nightcap. The first four hitters in SRU's batting order were a combined 12-for-15 as Zimmerman and Divosevic both went 3-for-4 in addition to Walters going 2-for-3 and Bell tallying a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the plate. All three of Zimmerman's hits were doubles.
 
Slippery Rock will look to carry over its momentum into its final series of the season against Clarion. The Rock and Golden Eagles will play a doubleheader Friday at Jack Critchfield Park before concluding the year Saturday at Clarion. First pitch of game one on both days is set for 1 p.m.