COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. – The Slippery Rock University softball team dominated Virginia State University Sunday afternoon tallying two wins to complete a four-game weekend sweep.
The Rock bats were awake in game one smashing 11 hits and recording nine runs in a 9-1 victory.
Game two was a much tighter contest despite SRU slugging 10 hits.
Andria Copelli shut down the Trojans bats helping Slippery Rock to a 3-2 win.
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 9 – Virginia State 1
Becca Roesch and
Kailey Myers each tallied two-hit games, while
Paige Flore nailed down the win in the circle.
The Trojans got on the board in the bottom of the first and held SRU scoreless through four frames.
In the fifth, The Rock's bats came alive scoring four runs. With
Emily Nagle already on base with two outs, Roesch drove her in with a single to tally the first run of the game for SRU. Roesch then advanced on a wild pitch, Myers would walk and
Allie Fischer singled to score Roesch.
McKenzie Garland then stepped to the plate to clear the bases with a two-RBI double and make it a 4-1 lead in favor of Slippery Rock.
The Rock then doubled their output in the fourth inning. Nagle started the rally with a one-out single.
Megan Brown and Roesch got on via back-to-back walks, which brought up Myers. She then cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple. Fischer would hit a sac fly to drive in Myers and make an 8-1 game.
SRU tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh inning on an RBI groundout by Nagle.
Andria Copelli entered had game earlier and slammed the door in the bottom half of the frame for the victory.
Flore (1-0) registered her first win of the 2018 campaign going 4.1 innings surrendering one run on five hits, while striking out three.
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 3 – Virginia State 2
Myers and
Adeline Nicholson tallied the RBI's and Copelli dominated in the circle for Slippery Rock's one-run victory.
Neither team could get anything going until SRU's top half of the third.
Julia Cepis and Nagle reached on errors allowing
Megan Brown to load the bases with a single. Myers then knocked-in a pair after the right fielder booted the ball. Nicholson would later drive in Myers to make it a 3-0 game.
In the fifth, SRU nearly added a couple more when Myers reached second base on an error with one out. Garland singled to put runners on the corners, but SRU was not able to knock them in.
The Trojans had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, VSU put a runner on with a single and tallied back-to-back doubles to make it a 3-2 contest. With the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run at the plate, Copelli bared down to record the last out securing the victory, 3-2.
Copelli (2-0) scattered six hits, surrendered two runs and struck out two in the complete-game win.
Myers' two RBI in the contest give her 12 to start the season in just nine games.
SRU improves to 7-2 on the season while the Trojans fall to 0-4. The Rock's 7-2 start is its best nine-game start to begin a season since 2011, where they were also 7-2.
Slippery Rock returns to action Saturday, March 10 when it travels to Clermont, Florida for the NTC Tournament. SRU's first contest will be March 10 against the University of Bridgeport. First pitch is scheduled for 9 a.m.
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