WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team scored 25 runs in a key Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader sweep of California (Pa.) Saturday afternoon at CONSOL Energy Park in Washington, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock downed the Vulcans 12-5 in game one and 13-7 in game two. Slippery Rock did not trail for the entirety of Saturday's doubleheader. The Rock's 25 runs are the second highest total in a doubleheader this season, SRU scored 29 runs in a sweep against Pitt-Johnstown on April 1.
 
SRU improves to 20-13 overall and 11-7 in the PSAC West with the two wins. SRU is now in sole possession of second place in the league standings. The sweep drops California's record to 17-19 overall and 9-9 in league competition.
 
Carson Kessler led the way for Slippery Rock over the doubleheader by combining to go 6-for-9 with four runs scored, eight RBI and one home run, his second of the season. Kessler is now batting .611 (11-for-18) with six runs, two home runs and 11 RBI in his career against California.
 
Tyler Walters continued his hot streak thanks to a great pair of games in which he went 7-for-10 with five runs, four RBI, a triple and one home run, his team-leading seventh of the season. Walters has now increased his batting average 28 points up to .322 while producing 15 RBI over The Rock's last eight games. Walters, who already ranks second in Rock history with 32 career home runs, is now tied with Adam Jury for seventh in program history in RBI with 125.
 
Joe Campagna, who has nine hits in his last 20 at-bats, launched a pair of home runs to go with four runs and six RBI. 11 of Campagna's 18 RBI on the year have come over The Rock's last six games.
 
Luca Fuscardo had four hits Saturday to increase his hitting streak to 16 games, which is the second longest streak at The Rock in the last seven seasons.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 12 – California 5
Game one was never in doubt as Slippery Rock jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and eventually stretched its advantage out to as many as 11 runs before the Vulcans scored four times in the seventh to cut the final margin to seven runs.
 
Slippery Rock produced three runs in each of the first two innings while adding three insurance runs in both the fifth and seventh innings en route to the win.
 
Campagna and Walters both homered in the opener. Campagna finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored as well as a double to go with his home run. Walters also collected a pair of hits and two RBI.
 
Kessler went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Frankie Jezioro and Mitchell Wood compiled two-hit games as well with Jezioro scoring twice, driving in one run and stealing his team-high ninth base of the year.
 
While The Rock's offense was busy recording one of its top games of the season at the plate, starting pitcher Alex Pantuso (4-1) was nearly untouchable on the mound. He did not allow a hit until the fourth inning and finished the contest with eight strikeouts and allowing just two runs on five hits and three walks over 6.1 innings. Andrew Null came on in relief of Pantuso in the seventh to record the game's final two outs.
 
After walking at least four batters in five of his first six starts this season, Pantuso has walked just five batters over his last two appearances. He now has 67 strikeouts on the season, the third highest total in the PSAC and the ninth most in SRU single-season history.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 13 - California 7
Slippery Rock combined another huge offensive outburst with a solid pitching performance to successfully carry over its momentum from game one into the nightcap on the way to its 13-3 win.
 
Already leading 1-0, Slippery Rock broke the game open by scoring four runs in back-to-back-to-back innings starting in the third. The run support was more than enough for Matt Gordon (4-2), who kept the Vulcans' bats in check for the majority of the game in a near complete-game effort.
 
Much like game one, Slippery Rock was comfortably ahead for the duration of the contest as California once again did the majority of its scoring in the seventh inning with four runs in the final frame.
 
Gordon (4-2) entered the seventh inning having scattered three runs and nine hits over the previous six innings before the Vulcans added four more runs and six hits to his total with a late surge. He finished the game with no walks in his 6.2 innings pitched. Gordon has walked just two batters over his last five starts (30 innings). Josh Coleman came in for Gordon to get the final out of the game.
 
Walters led a group of seven Rock players that accounted for a total of 16 hits in game two by going 5-for-5 with three runs and two RBI. It was his second five-hit game of the season and third of his career.
 
Fuscardo and Kessler both went 3-for-5. Fuscardo scored three runs and Kessler finished the contest with six RBI, the most in game this season by a Rock athlete. Christian Porterfield also collected a multi-hit game, going 2-for-2 with two RBI and two walks. Campagna had two RBI while launching his third home run of the season. Wood and Jezioro rounded out The Rock's top performers in game two with one hit apiece.
 
Slippery Rock will look to duplicate Saturday's success on Sunday when it hosts California for a doubleheader at Jack Critchfield Park. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.


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