GREENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a road doubleheader at Seton Hill University Sunday afternoon in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. SRU claimed a 7-1 win in the opener before losing game two to the Griffins, 8-7.
 
With the split, Slippery Rock's record moves to 26-18 overall and 17-10 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division. Seton Hill concludes the regular season at 32-18 overall and 16-12 in the PSAC West.

Slippery Rock will enter the PSAC Tournament as the three seed out of the Western Division and play Shippensburg, the second seed in the Eastern Division, in the first round on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Slippery Rock ends the regular season just a half game in back of Indiana (Pa.) (18-10 PSAC West) for the second seed in the Western Division. SRU had a chance to catch IUP, which The Rock owns a tiebreaker over, for second in the standings as it had an unfinished divisional game against Gannon from earlier in the season that could have been finished on Monday. However, Gannon could not obtain transportation on short notice and the league office ruled that the game would remain halted. Citing the "non-completed mandated schedule" clause in the PSAC bylaws, the league office ruled that Indiana would be the two seed in the division and that Slippery Rock would be the three seed.  
 
Sunday's split combined with The Rock's sweep of Seton Hill on May 5 gives SRU a 3-1 series win against the Griffins, which is its first series victory against Seton Hill for The Rock since SHU joined the PSAC.
 
Christian Porterfield was nearly unstoppable Sunday. The junior catcher combined to go 6-for-7 with three home runs, five RBI, four runs scored, one double and one walk over the two games. The three-home run afternoon pushed his season total to eight on the season.
 
Joe Campagna also slugged a pair of home runs, both of which came in game two. Six of Campagna's seven home runs in 2017 have come over The Rock's last 13 games.
 
Luca Fuscardo tallied hits in both games, finishing 3-for-7 with two runs and one walk. Carson Kessler registered hits in each contest as well, going 2-for-6 with one RBI and one walk.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 7 – Seton Hill 1
Slippery Rock scored early and often while Preston Falascino kept the potent Seton Hill offense in check as SRU cruised to a 7-1 win in game one.
 
Porterfield had a terrific game in the opener, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored, two home runs and three RBI. Fuscardo went 2-for-3 with one run and one walk while Kessler, James Divosevic and Mitchell Wood all had hits as well with Divsovic, Kessler and Tyler Walters producing one RBI apiece.
 
Falascino continued what has been a strong senior season on the mound, earning a complete-game victory after scattering one run on five hits and four walks while also compiling seven strikeouts. Seton Hill put eight runners on base in the opening three innings, but Falascino was able to work out of trouble to keep the Griffins scoreless early on.
 
Falascino is now 7-2 on the year. He has thrown two straight complete games and has allowed just three runs over his last three starts (20.1 innings).
 
Slippery Rock wasted little time attacking Seton Hill starting pitcher Don McWreath (3-3) as Porterfield belted a two-run home run to centerfield with two outs in the top first inning. Looking to respond, the Griffins put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the first, but Preston Falascino worked out of the jam by forcing consecutive outs to end the threat.
 
Seton Hill once again put two runners on base with one out in the second inning, but Falascino continued to successfully work around the runners with a strikeout and help from Walters and Campagna, who caught Ryan Grieco trying to take home on a double steal to end the inning, maintaining The Rock's 2-0 advantage.
 
The Rock came up with more two-out magic in the third inning when Kessler delivered a single to right field that plated Fuscardo followed by Porterfield scoring on a throwing error by SHU shortstop Tyler Sullivan off of a ball hit by Kyle Wise. SRU added two additional runs in the fourth on an RBI-double by Divosevic and a sacrifice fly by Walters that brought in Divosevic from third later in the inning.
 
Slippery Rock's 6-0 lead was short-lived as MP Buckley broke up the shutout with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to trim The Rock's lead to five runs. However, Falascino went on to retire 11 of Seton Hill's final 13 batters following Buckley's homer while Porterfield added his second home run of the day in the seventh to lift Slippery Rock to a 7-1 victory in game one.
 
GAME TWO: Seton Hill 8 – Slippery Rock 7
No lead was safe in game two as Slippery Rock and Seton Hill traded advantages back-and-forth four times before Seton Hill was able to avoid the series sweep with the narrow 8-7 one-run win.
 
Slippery Rock pounded out 11 hits in the nightcap with Wise leading the way via a 3-for-4, two-run effort. Campgana was 2-for-4 with two solo home runs.
 
Porterfield hit his third home run of the day as part of a 2-for-3 performance that included two RBI, one run, one walk and one double. Kessler, Walters, Fuscardo and Matt Mandes accounted for The Rock's other four hits with Walters also driving in a pair of runs, his 54th and 55th RBI of 2017.
 
Divosevic made his first start of the year on the mound for The Rock, going four innings and allowing six runs on six hits and one walk in a no-decision outing. Josh Coleman (2-5) suffered the loss after allowing two runs on three hits and two walks in two innings of relief work.
 
Porterfield picked up right where he left off in game two when he doubled down the left field line in the first inning to drive in Wise, who led off the contest with a single, for the game's first run. Seton Hill answered back in the bottom half of the first when Buckley hit a two-run home run. Buckley's home run came with two men on base, but confusion on the base paths caused one SHU runner to pass another thus forcing one runner to be ruled out on the play.
 
The Rock rallied back in the second when Campagna led off the frame with a home run to tie the game at 2-2, but Seton Hill quickly retook the lead with three runs of its own in the second to pull ahead 5-2.
 
Porterfield hit yet another home run in the third inning to briefly cut Seton Hill's lead down to two runs, but the Griffins countered in their portion of the inning with a run of their own to push its lead back out to three runs at 6-3. SRU completely erased its deficit with a three-run fourth inning that saw Walters strike a two-run double and Fuscardo score on a wild pitch to make it a 6-6 affair.
 
Campagna furthered The Rock's comeback bid with his second long ball of the day with a shot to left field that gave SRU a 7-6 lead in the fifth inning. As was the trend for the entire game, Seton Hill once again matched The Rock's output with a run of its own to tie the contest at 7-7 after five innings of action.
 
Following a scoreless sixth inning for SRU, its first of the game, Seton Hill recaptured the lead at 8-7 with one run off of an RBI-single by Ryan Wardropper in the bottom of the inning. Kessler singled with one out in the seventh and eventually advanced to second base on a groundout by Frankie Jezioro, but SHU relief pitcher Kenny Wells struck out Campagna to end the threat and help the Griffins escape with an 8-7 win.


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