SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a doubleheader against Pitt-Johnstown Monday afternoon at Jack Critchfield Park in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.
Slippery Rock won game one, 11-5, before dropping the nightcap, 9-1. The split gave The Rock a 3-1 series victory over Pitt-Johnstown. SRU's winning streak ends at 11 games, which is the fifth longest in program history.
The doubleheader split moves The Rock's record to 15-6 on the year overall and 7-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division. The Mountain Cats exit the series at 11-17 overall and 1-7 in the PSAC West.
Mitchell Wood went 3-for-4 over the doubleheader with two runs scored, one double, one stolen base and three walks.
Luca Fuscardo also recorded at least one hit in both games against the Mountain Cats, finishing the afternoon 3-for-6 with two runs, four RBIs, two walks and one stolen base. Additionally,
Joe Campagna extended his reached base safely streak to 16 games thanks to a walk in game one and a hit in game two.
Earlier in the day
Tyler Walters was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week for the first time this season after his dominant doubleheader against Pitt-Johnstown on April 1. Walters hit his team-leading fifth home run of the season on Monday, a two-run shot in game one. In four games against UPJ, Walters was 10-for-16 with nine runs scored, three home runs, 13 RBIs and four doubles.
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 11 – Pitt-Johnstown 5
Slippery Rock parlayed a seven-run fourth inning into an 11-5, six-run victory in the opener.
Trailing 3-2 after three innings, Slippery Rock rallied back and busted the game open in the fourth when it sent 13 batters to the plate on the way to its highest scoring inning of the year. Fuscardo and
Christian Porterfield each had two-run singles while the duo of
Carson Kessler and
Matt Mandes each drove in one run as well with another Rock run coming off of a wild pitch to give SRU a commanding 9-3 lead.
From there on Slippery Rock's lead was never threatened as UPJ was only able to score two more runs the rest of the game, both of which SRU got back by way of a two-run sixth inning after Kessler scored on a wild pitch and Campagna crossed home from third via a Fuscardo walk with the bases loaded.
Slippery Rock had just seven hits in game one, but benefitted greatly by drawing a near unprecedented 14 walks. Prior to the contest the most walks Slippery Rock had amassed in a single game over the last eight seasons was when it collected 13 against Kentucky Wesleyan on March 14, 2014.
Fuscardo was 2-for-3 with two runs, three RBIs and one stolen base in game one. Walters produced The Rock's other multi-hit game, going 2-for-4, with two runs, two RBIs, one stolen base and one home run.
Porterfield drove in a pair of runs as well while Kessler and Mandes each had one RBI. In addition to compiling one hit, Wood walked a team-high three times. Mandes, Fuscardo,
Frankie Jezioro and
James Divosevic all walked twice. Jezioro also stole one base, his seventh of the season, to keep pace with Fuscardo for the team lead on the year.
Matt Gordon recorded the victory on the mound for Slippery Rock after striking out a near career-best six batters over five innings in addition to allowing four runs on eight hits and one walk. Gordon has earned wins in each of his last two starts.
Wyatt Daugherty struck out four batters over two innings of relief work out of SRU's bullpen to close out the game.
GAME TWO: Pitt-Johnstown 9 - Slippery Rock 1
Slippery Rock's bid for an 12th straight win was thwarted in game two as Pitt-Johnstown jumped out to a 5-1 lead after three innings before sealing the upset with a four-run seventh.
The Rock's lone run of game two came in the third inning on a groundout by Fuscardo that plated Wood, who reached base earlier in the frame on a great bunt-single before advancing to third off of a
Ray Scala base hit.
Rock starting pitcher
Trevor Adkins (0-1) suffered his first loss of the season after giving up three runs on four hits in two innings to go with three strikeouts.
Shawn Holman,
Josh Coleman,
Chris Anastas and
Andrew Null all pitched in relief throughout game two as well with Coleman doing the majority of the work by throwing 3.2 innings that included four strikeouts and a pair of walks, but no runs allowed. Coleman has not allowed an earned run in 14.1 innings.
Wood accounted for two of Slippery Rock's six hits as he turned in a 2-for-3, one-run, one-double performance. Divosevic, Fuscardo Campagna and Scala registered The Rock's other four hits.
UPJ Pitcher Nathan Bearer (2-2) had his best outing of the season with five strikeouts and just six hits and one run allowed in the complete-game victory.
Slippery Rock returns to action this weekend for a four-game series against No. 6 Mercyhurst University, for what will be The Rock's toughest test to date. The Lakers will host SRU for a doubleheader on Friday with Slippery Rock welcoming the Mercyhurst to Jack Critchfield Park on Saturday for two games. First pitch of game one on both days is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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