SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team closed out its four-game Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division series with No. 11 Mercyhurst by recording a doubleheader split Saturday afternoon at Jack Critchfield Park.
Slippery Rock rebounded from an 11-2 loss in game one by beating the Lakers 5-3 in game two.
Slippery Rock and the nationally ranked Lakers exit the weekend still tied for first place in the PSAC West standings with identical league marks of 12-4. SRU's overall record now stands at an impressive 19-9 on the season.
As a team, Slippery Rock hit four home runs Saturday.
Christian Porterfield and
Abraham Mow both recorded quality performances in both ends of the doubleheader Saturday. Porterfield went a combined 3-for-6 over the two game with one home run and three RBI. Mow was 4-for-6 with two runs scored, one home run and one RBI.
Porterfield, who is tied for the team lead in home runs with eight, now leads SRU with 29 RBI on the year. Mow has six homers and is batting a Rock-best .370.
Joe Campagna continued his recent power surge with his fourth home run in the last six games.
Tyler Walters came through with career home run number 44. He is now one long ball away from tying Shippensburg's Jake Kennedy for the most home runs in PSAC history.
GAME ONE: Mercyhurst 11 – Slippery Rock 2
A six-run third inning was too much for SRU to overcome in its 11-2 loss in the opener.
SRU led 1-0 early on thanks to leadoff home run to start the game by Mow, but was unable to rebound from the Lakers' big third inning as Mercyhurst went on to score twice in the fourth and three more times in the fifth while The Rock could only answer back with one run in the bottom of the third en route to the Lakers' win.
Porterfield and Mow collected two hits each in the opener.
Matt Mandes accounting for The Rock's only other hit of the game. Mandes, Campana and Walters all drew walks as well off of Laker pitcher Tyler Garbee.
Garbee earned the complete game victory by scattering two runs on five hits and three walks to go with nine strikeouts. Drew Delsignore went 2-for-4 with one home run and four RBI to pace the Lakers' bats.
Chris Anastas (4-1) suffered his first loss of the year. He went 3.1 innings, giving up eight runs, six of which were earned, while striking out six.
Derek Boben allowed three runs in addition to striking out three batters in 1.2 innings of relief while
Alex Worthington rounded out The Rock's pitchers with two perfect innings of work.
Game Two: Slippery Rock 5 – Mercyhurst 3
Undeterred from the earlier defeat, Slippery Rock bounced back with a great performance in the night cap on the way to a 5-3 victory.
Slippery Rock slugged its way to a win in game two thanks to three home runs from the heart of its batting order.
Portefield started the power display with a solo homer in the second inning, Campagna broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth with a shot to left field and Walters put the game away via a three-run towering homer to center in the fifth.
On the mound,
Ryan Tapp, who tallied four strikeouts in his start, gave up just one unearned run on two hits and two walks in four innings to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Tanner Stanz came on in the fifth to throw three solid innings, scattering two runs on three hits and two walks to pick up the save, his second of the year.
Mow provided The Rock with a two-hit, one-run, one-walk effort from his spot atop the batting order. Campagna was 2-for-3 with the key go-ahead home run. Walters and Porterfield provided SRU's remaining hits with their aforementioned homers.
Mercyhurst's Vincenzo Lucente (1-1) entered the game for starter Matt Minnick in the third inning and allowed four of SRU's five runs to record his first loss of the season. Lucente pitched 2.1 innings before giving way to Connor Ryan and Hunter Treece, who combined to pitch a perfect sixth inning.
Slippery Rock will break from its PSAC West schedule to play a non-conference doubleheader April 17 at Bloomsburg University. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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