CLERMONT, Fla. – The Slippery Rock University softball team split a pair of games Thursday on day six of the NTC Tournament in Clermont, Florida.

Slippery Rock began the day with a 7-1 loss to Wayne State University before rebounding to beat Minnesota-Crookston, 2-0.
 
Following the split, The Rock's record now stands at 12-7. Crookston fell to 4-14 while Wayne State improved to 8-6.
 
GAME ONE: Wayne State 7 – Slippery Rock 1
The Rock played even with Wayne State for the majority of Thursday's game, but a five-run first inning by the Warriors proved to be too much for SRU to overcome.
 
Wayne State posted the first runs of the day in the bottom of the first when with two runners on and two outs Hannah McClounie launched a home run to left-center to give the Warriors an early 3-0 lead.
 
WSU further added to its lead later in the frame with two more runs on a base hit by Emma Adams before starting pitcher Brooke Dawson was able to get out of the inning.
 
The Rock began to chip away at Wayne State's lead in the top of the second inning when Lauren Hawley connected on her first home run of the season, a solo shot, to break the shutout. Hawley's homer was the ninth of her career. She now ranks 13th on SRU's all-time home run ledger.
 
However, Wayne State answered back in the bottom half of the inning with two more runs to stretch its lead to six runs at 7-1.
 
Slippery Rock threatened in the top of the fourth with consecutive singles by Allie Fischer, McKenzie Garland and Alexa Guglielmino, but ultimately could not push a runner home as Fischer was thrown out at the plate to end the inning in what was one of SRU's best run-scoring opportunities of the day.
 
Emily Nagle led off the fifth with a double while advancing to third on a Megan Brown groundout and Becca Roesch walked, but Wayne State pitcher Presly Buchanan wiggled out of the jam by recording back-to-back outs to maintain WSU's lead. She went on to toss shutout innings in the sixth and seventh to close out the game.
 
Dawson (4-5) took the loss for SRU after allowing seven runs on eight hits over 1.1 innings pitched. Paige Flore pitched great in relief of Dawson, holding WSU scoreless while scattering six hits and two walks over 4.1 innings of work.
 
Fischer finished the game 2-for-3 while Caitlyn MacKelvey, Brown, Hawley, Garland, Nagle and Guglielmino had one hit apiece.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 2 – Minnesota-Crookston 0
Freshman pitcher Camie Shumaker turned in a gem of a performance and The Rock's bats did just enough en route to the shutout victory in game two.
 
Shumaker threw a complete-game shutout, scattering five hits while striking out a pair of batters in what was her shutout in as many starts. In her first season at The Rock, Shumaker is already 4-0 with a 0.05 ERA.
 
MacKelvey was 2-for-3. Brown went 1-for-2 with one run scored and two stolen bases. Nagle and Myers accounted for Slippery Rock's other two hits with Nagle scoring one run and Myers driving in a run as well. Brown has stolen a team-high nine bases this season.
 
SlRU plated two runs in the third inning when Nagle scored from third base on a fielding error followed by an RBI-single by Kailey Myers that brought in Brown from third.
 
Slippery Rock had a great chance to further add to its lead in the fourth inning after loading the bases with one out, but Crookston pitcher Kass Klaphake avoided any damage by picking up two straight outs to keep The Rock's lead at two runs.
 
However, the two runs were more than enough for Shumaker who was dominant in the circle. She gave up just two hits through the final three innings to secure the victory.
 
Slippery Rock will close out its time at the NTC Tournament with two more games Friday at 9 a.m. against Sioux Falls and 11 a.m. against Bemidji State.
 
 
 
 
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