BUTLER, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team swept a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader against Clarion University Friday at Kelly Automotive Park in Butler, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock gutted out a 5-2 win in the opener and cruised to a 13-0 shutout in game two to finish off the sweep. The wins improve Slippery Rock's record to 11-7 overall and 4-2 in league games. The sweep drops Clarion's record to 6-15 overall and 1-5 in PSAC West competition.
 
The highlight of the day belonged to game one starting pitcher Alex Pantuso, who fanned 14 batters over six innings to break The Rock's career strikeout record. Pantuso entered the game tied with former Rock great, and current Oakland A's prospect, Lou Trivino for the most strikeouts in program history at 217 before going out and matching his single-game career-high with 14 strikeouts.
 
Luca Fuscardo paced The Rock's offense Friday with a great effort at the plate. In two games, Fuscardo went 6-for-7 with two runs scored and five RBI. Mitchell Wood also extended his hitting streak to 13 games in the sweep.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 5 – Clarion 2
Pantuso kept The Rock in the opener with a dominating performance early on and The Rock's offense came alive with a four-run fifth inning en route to a 5-2 victory.
 
Fuscardo turned in an RBI-single in the second inning that plated Joe Campagna from second base while Pantuso struck out seven of Clarion's first 10 batters to send Slippery Rock into the fourth inning leading 1-0.
 
Clarion managed to tie the game at one apiece due to some good fortune in the fourth inning. With Chandler Palyas on first base, Cole Shaffer made contact with a check-swing single that managed to find its way through the right side and allow Palyas to advance to third before eventually scoring on a wild pitch. Pantuso quickly regained his composure and got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
 
The contest would not remain tied for long however, as SRU regained control by posting four runs in the fifth inning. With two runners on and one out, Wood produced an RBI-single. Tyler Walters then loaded the bases with an infield single and two batters later Campagna drew a walk to bring in the inning's second run. Fuscardo proceeded to cap off the frame with two-run double, giving SRU a 5-1 advantage.
 
Clarion was only able get one run back in the sixth prior to Pantuso getting out of the inning with a strikeout followed by Christian Porterfield throwing out CU's Dillion Wolbert at second base on an attempted steal. Wyatt Daugherty came on in the seventh to easily record the game's final three outs.
 
Pantuso (2-2) scattered five hits and just one walk to go with his 14 strikeouts. The senior ace has now won back-to-back starts with a total of 25 strikeouts and a mere five runs allowed in 12 innings. The save was Daugherty's team-high third of the year.
 
Fuscardo finished the opener 2-for-3 with three RBI and one run scored. Walters also had a multi-hit outing, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and a double. Abraham Mow, Kyle Wise and Wood tallied hits as well.
 
Jeremy Frazier (1-4) allowed five runs on five hits and two walks over five innings in the loss for Clarion.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 13 – Clarion 0
Slippery Rock combined two big innings offensively with a pair of strong pitching performances to take game two 13-0. The shutout was The Rock's first of the season.
 
SRU totaled 13 hits in the nightcap. Fuscardo was a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Tyler Merigliano went 3-for-3 with a run, two RBI and a walk. Porterfield drove in three runs on a pair of hits while Mow also brought in three runs while scoring two more.
 
Starting pitcher Matt Gordon (3-0) was virtually unhittable and reliever Andrew Null was solid as well in his inning of work in the combined shutout. Gordon went six innings with four hits allowed and four strikeouts. For the third time this season, Gordon went his entire start with walking a batter. He has now walked just one batter in 24 innings this season, the fewest by a starter in the Atlantic Region.
 
While Gordon and Null kept the Clarion bats silent, The Rock went for three runs in the first and 10 more in the fifth during an inning in which Slippery Rock sent 14 batters to plate.
 
Clarion starting pitcher Nate Torbich (1-3) gave up eight runs, only four of which were earned, over four innings in the loss.
 
Slippery Rock and Clarion will conclude their four-game series Monday with another doubleheader at Kelly Automotive Park. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 11 a.m.
 
 
 
 
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