SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team earned a doubleheader split against Seton Hill University Monday at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
Slippery Rock dropped the opener, 10-2, but benefitted from a pair of great pitching performances from starter Chris Anastas and reliever Wyatt Daugherty in game two to come away with a 2-1 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division victory.
 
Following the split, Slippery Rock's record stands at 9-7 overall and 2-2 in league competition. Seton Hill will exit its four-game series against Slippery Rock with an overall record of 7-11 and a PSAC West mark of 2-2.
 
Christian Porterfield drove in two of The Rock's four runs over the doubleheader while Mitchell Wood extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games by going a combined 3-for-5 with one run scored and one stolen base.
 
Abraham Mow, Joe Campagna and Frankie Jezioro all recorded hits in both games as well on Monday. Campagna has now reached base safely in 15 consecutive games.
 
GAME ONE: Seton Hill 10 – Slippery Rock 2
The Rock held a brief lead in the opener, but Seton Hill put game one away with a six-run sixth inning on the way to its 10-2 victory.
 
Six different Rock players tallied hits in game one, including Luca Fuscardo who produced The Rock's lone extra-base hit, a run-scoring triple in the sixth. Porterfield also had one hit and an RBI while Mow, Campagna, Wood and Jezioro all notched singles with Mow walking once and scoring both of SRU's runs.
 
Ryan Tapp (2-1) had a rough outing on the mound, allowing eight runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out eight batters over five innings. Stephen McKee came on in relief of Tapp to pitch two innings with two runs allowed, only one of which was earned, on two hits.
 
Mow led off the game for SRU with a single and later advanced to second on a Fuscardo groundout before scoring when Porterfield ripped a ball through the left side to give The Rock an early lead.
 
Seton Hill took control of the game with four runs over the second and third innings to push past The Rock 4-1. SRU made it a two-run contest in the fifth inning when Fuscardo struck a two-out triple to right field that plated Mow, who walked earlier in the frame, from first base.
 
However, The Rock's hopes of a comeback were exhausted a half inning later when the Griffins exploded for six runs on five hits and one error. SRU put runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, but never seriously threatened Seton Hill's lead in the eight-run defeat.
 
Tom McCarthy, Carl Turner and Dan Wukich had two RBI apiece to lead the Griffins' offense. Don McWreath (2-0) earned the complete game victory after allowing two runs on six hits and three walks to go with two strikeouts.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 2 – Seton Hill 1
A pair of first inning runs would prove to be all that The Rock's pitching staff needed in game two as Anastas and Daugherty combined to limit the Griffins to just one run and six hits in the 2-1 split-clinching victory.
 
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the first, the Slippery Rock bats quickly went to work to load the bases off of consecutive base hits by Mow, Wood and Tyler Walters. Porterfield proceeded to bring The Rock's first run of the game home on a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Mow from third base.
 
SRU found its second run of the contest later in the inning when Seton Hill starter Michael Bryja (0-1) made a poor pickoff attempt of Walters at second base that resulted in a throwing error and allowed Wood to score, giving Slippery Rock the 2-1 edge.
 
Anastas went on to throw four shutout innings in what was one of his best starts of the season. The junior flirted with disaster throughout the day, but managed to leave the bases loaded in the second while stranding two runners on base in both the third and fourth innings. Anastas' best inning was his last as he struck out the side in the fifth to maintain The Rock's one-run lead.
 
Anastas gave way to Daugherty in the sixth inning and The Rock's reliable closer was more than up to the challenge of Seton Hill's difficult lineup. He tossed three strikeouts in the sixth and successfully navigated around a one-out single in the seventh to record the game's final two outs and lockdown the victory.
 
The save was Daugherty's second of the season. Anastas pitched a career-high seven strikeouts while scattering five hits and three walks over five innings to improve to 2-0 in 2018.
 
Wood went 2-for-3 with one run scored and a stolen base in the nightcap to pace SRU's offense. Jezioro was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk while the trio of Mow, Walters and Campagna all went 1-for-3.
 
Bryja took the loss for Seton Hill after giving up two runs on four hits and a walk in 4.1 innings. Bryce Spak pitched the final 1.2 innings in relief for the Griffins.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its attention to its four-game series with Clarion University March  30-31. The Rock and Golden Eagles are scheduled to play a doubleheader at Jack Critchfield Park on Friday followed by a doubleheader at Clarion on Saturday. First pitch of game one on both days is set for 1 p.m.



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