Championship Preview
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.- The Slippery Rock University softball team clinched a spot in the upcoming Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament after posting a split with Gannon Sunday afternoon from the SRU Softball Complex.
The Rock won the opening game 1-0 behind a complete game, two-hit shutout effort from
Brooke Dawson in the circle.
Gannon took the second game 3-2, which forced SRU to play the waiting game and await the results of California (Pa.) and Seton Hill's games. Cal swept the Griffins to force a tie between The Rock and SHU for the third and final playoff spot in the PSAC West. Slippery Rock wins the tiebreaker due to a 3-1 head-to-head record against the Griffins.
The playoff appearance for Slippery Rock will be the first for the program since 2009.
SRU will play Millersville, the No. 3 team from the PSAC Eastern Division, Wednesday April 27 at 12 p.m. at Veteran's Park in Quakertown, Pa. A complete Championship Preview with tournament information is available at the link above.
With the split, Slippery Rock moves to 20-21 on the season and 9-11 in conference play. Meanwhile, Gannon remains even at 19-19 overall and 10-10 in league action.
Allie Fischer led The Rock with a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the plate across the two games, while
Ashley Samluk picked up individual hits in both games.
Game One: Slippery Rock 1, Gannon 0
After three scoreless innings,
Megan Brown had an RBI single to shortstop in the bottom of the fourth that scored
Stacey Herzog, who singled to left field to start the inning and was advanced two bases on bunts by
Lauren Hawley and Fischer.
That would be the only run SRU would need, as Dawson sat down the Golden Knights 1-2-3 in the fifth and sixth innings and allowed just one hit in the final inning. Dawson (9-8) struck out four batters in the victory en route to her fifth shutout of the season.
Game Two: Gannon 3, Slippery Rock 2
Gannon got out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning with a RBI double to left center. The Golden Knights extended their lead to 2-0 on a passed ball in the sixth inning.
Slippery Rock rallied to tie the game with two unearned runs in the sixth inning.
Katie Kaiser sparked the comeback attempt with a base hit to center field and Samluk doubled to right field to place runners on second and third. Kaiser scored on a Gannon fielding miscue and Samluk scored on a sacrifice foul out by Herzog to tie the game.
The Golden Knights responded in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly to center field and held The Rock to one hit in the bottom of the inning to earn the close win.
Carly DeRose (8-8) took the loss for The Rock after striking out two and surrendering three hits across five innings. Dawson got the start and struck out one in her two innings of work.
