SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader against Clarion University Friday afternoon at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
Slippery Rock (11-36, 6-20 PSAC West) took the opener, 3-2, before Clarion (10-30, 4-22 PSAC West) overcame an early one-run deficit by scoring twice in the final three innings to avoid the shutout with a 2-1 win over The Rock in game two.
 
SRU received great outings from both of its starting pitchers Friday in Jon Anderson and Alex Pantuso.
 
At the plate, Slippery Rock was led by the trio of Ty Zimmerman, Mitchell Wood and Tyler Walters. Zimmerman went 3-for-6 with two runs over the two games. Wood was 3-for-5 with one run while Walters was 2-for-5. With two games remaining in the season, Walters is batting .430, the highest batting average since Will Kengor hit .449 in 2013.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 3 – Clarion 2
Anderson was dominant in the final start of his collegiate career. After giving up two runs on three hits over the first two innings, Anderson threw five scoreless innings and allowed just two hits the rest of the en route to The Rock's 3-2 win in the opener.
 
Slippery Rock matched Clarion's runs in the first and second innings with runs of its own in each frame as well. Zimmerman led off the first inning with a triple off the left field wall and scored the next at-bat via an RBI-ground out from Frankie Jezioro for SRU's first un of the day. Trailing, 2-1 in the second, SRU evened the contest thanks to a solo home run by Preston Falascino that just stayed fair down the right field line.
 
SRU produced what turned out to be the game-winning run in the fourth. James Divosevic led off the inning with a single before advancing to second base on a Falascino ground out. Two batters later, Wood brought Divosevic in with a run-scoring single.
 
The one-run lead was more than enough for Anderson, who only surrendered one hit over the final three innings, a two-out single in the seventh, to close out the win. The outing was one of Anderson's best of the year; he surrendered just five hits and two runs while recording three strikeouts in the victory.
 
Zimmerman, Divosevic and Wood all tallied two-hit games in the opener. Falascino's home run was his fifth of the season and third in his last five games.
 
GAME TWO: Clarion 2 – Slippery Rock 1
Slippery Rock got out to an early lead in what was a pitchers duel between Pantuso and Clarion's Doug Conrad, but the Golden Eagles were able to rally with a pair of runs late in the game to pick up the win.
 
As was the case in game one, Zimmerman once again led off the first with a hit, this one being a single. He proceeded to move to second base on a Jezioro groundout while taking third via a wild pitch. Zimmerman eventually scored thanks to Alex Bell's single to centerfield to give The Rock an early 1-0 lead.
 
The lead lasted until the fifth inning when Clarion was finally able to get to Pantuso, who only gave up one hit over the first four innings of play, with one run to tie the game. Clarion added an additional run in the seventh to take a 2-1 lead that SRU was unable to match.
 
Slippery Rock's best chance for a run after the first inning came in the sixth when Walters produced an infield single followed by a Bell double down the left field line to put runners on second and third with just one out. However, Clarion got out of the inning by taking advantage of an SRU base-running miscue on a groundball by Christian Porterfield that resulted in both Walters and Bell being tagged out on the play.
 
Kyle Wise singled with two outs in the seventh, but Conrad managed to get pinch hitter Carson Kessler to pop out to the catcher to end any thoughts of a Rock rally.
 
Pantuso had seven strikeouts in the loss, his highest strikeout total in his last five starts. Bell went 2-for-3 with one RBI and a double in game two for SRU as well.
 
Prior to the doubleheader, the Slippery Rock senior class of Anderson, Bell and Jordan Faretta were recognized for their contributions to the program over their careers.
 
Slippery Rock and Clarion will close out the 2016 season with a doubleheader Saturday at Clarion. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.