DINWIDDIE, Va. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team opened its 2017 season with a 9-4 victory against East Stroudsburg University Friday afternoon at the Dinwiddie Sports Complex in Dinwiddie, Virginia.
 
With the game tied at 3-3 in the eighth inning, Slippery Rock scored six runs in the final two innings to earn what will more than likely prove to be a key regional victory later in the season.
 
Rock starting pitcher Alex Pantuso was great in his first start of the season. He had seven strikeouts and didn't give up a hit in five scoreless innings.
 
Chris Anastas picked up the win after giving up one run on two hits in one inning of relief. Wyatt Daugherty was credited with the save after entering the game with SRU ahead 6-3 in the eighth inning. Daugherty kept the Warriors in check by scattering three hits and one unearned run while striking out three batters over the final two innings.
 
Slippery Rock's offense tallied 17 hits on the afternoon. Christian Porterfield led the way via a 4-for-6, two-RBI performance. Porterfield's four hits were a career-high.
 
Rock leadoff hitter James Divosevic went 3-for-5 with two RBI, three runs scored and one walk. Luca Fuscardo, Frankie Jezioro and Matt Mandes all recorded two hits as well with Fuscardo driving in a pair of runs and Mandes scoring twice.
 
Tyler Walters, Joe Campagna, Carson Kessler and Mitchell Wood each had one hit as well with Walters also walking twice and driving in one run.
 
With Pantuso cruising on the mound, Slippery Rock's bats went to work early on. Following a leadoff triple by Divosevic, Fuscardo would give The Rock a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a run-scoring sacrifice fly. SRU later added runs in the third and fourth innings off of RBI-hits from Porterfield and Divosevic, respectively, to take a 3-0 lead.
 
After Pantuso was replaced to start the sixth inning, ESU managed to rally back with three runs in the following two innings to tie the contest at 3-3. However, SRU ended any thoughts of a Warriors comeback by plating three runs in the top of the eighth and ninth innings while Daugherty pitched a near spotless eighth and worked out of trouble in the ninth en route to the victory.
 
Ian Allen went 2-for-5 with one RBI for East Stroudsburg. Ben Stine was the pitcher of record of ESU. He came on in relief of Mike Pepio in the fifth inning and allowed three runs, one earned, on three hits and three walks before giving way to Ben Bortz, who pitched the final 1.1 innings.
 
Slippery Rock will continue its time in Dinwiddie, Virginia Saturday with a doubleheader against West Chester University. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 9 a.m.

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