WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a road Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader against California University (Pa.) Friday afternoon at CONSOL Energy Field in Washington, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock took the opener from the Vulcans, 9-7, but California avoided the sweep with an 11-4 win in game two.
 
The split moves The Rock's record to 26-12 overall and 17-5 in the PSAC West while The Vulcans go to 22-18 overall and 10-12 in league games.
 
Tyler Walters led the way over the doubleheader for The Rock, going a combined 3-for-6 with three runs scored, two RBI, one home run and a walk. Abraham Mow collected hits in both games as well, finishing 3-for-8 with two runs, one home run and three RBI.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 9 – California 7
The opener turned into a slugfest between two of the top offenses in the PSAC West before a great effort from The Rock's bullpen shutdown the Vulcans to give SRU a 9-7 win.
 
Christian Porterfield got The Rock started early when he shot a single up the middle that plated Luca Fuscardo, who doubled earlier in the inning, along with Walters. The Vulcans would get one run back in the bottom of the first, but Walters stretched SRU's lead back out to two runs with a solo homer in the third.
 
California once again answered back with three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-3 lead heading into the middle stages of the game.
 
However, Slippery Rock was able to rally back in the fourth inning as the trio of Mitchell Wood, Frankie Jezioro and Tyler Merigliano all reached base to start the frame to set the stage for back-to-back two-run doubles from Kyle Wise and Mow that put The Rock back on top, 7-4.
 
Slippery Rock went on to add insurance runs via a Merigliano RBI-double in the fifth and another run-scoring single by Porterfield in the sixth. The extra runs proved to be vital as the Vulcans managed to plate three more runs before Wyatt Daugherty came on in the sixth inning to close out the win by throwing two scoreless innings.  
 
The save was Daugherty's PSAC-best seventh of the season. The junior reliever now has a 2.82 ERA on the season and has not surrendered a run in his last four appearances. Starter Alex Pantuso improved to 6-2 in 2018 with six strikeouts over five innings.
 
Porterfield led a quartet of Rock players with two-hit games in the opener, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. Walters also had two hits, one of which being his home run, to go with two runs scored, one RBI, one stolen base and a walk. Merigliano and Fuscardo collected The Rock's other multi-hit days.
 
Mow and Wise combined for four RBI on a pair of doubles while Jezioro walked twice and scored a pair of runs to round out The Rock's top performers.
 
GAME TWO: California 11 – Slippery Rock 4
A five-run first inning proved to be too much for The Rock to overcome in an 11-4 loss in game two.
 
The Vulcans got to Rock starter Matt Gordon (5-1) for 11 runs, 10 of which were earned, over four innings. The loss was Gordon's first of the season. Andrew Null came in for Gordon in the fifth and threw two perfect innings while striking out two batters to limit the damage.
 
Slippery Rock recorded seven hits in game two with Mow leading the way on a 2-for-3, two-run, one-home run performance. Mow's homer was his eighth of the season. Fuscardo, Walters, Jezioro, Ray Scala and Joe Campagna all had one hit as well with Walters, Campagna and Fuscardo all driving in one run apiece.
 
SRU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first, but the Vulcans went on to score eight of the next nine runs to blow the game open.
 
Hunter Robinson threw a complete-game seven hitter for the Vulcans in the win while Tom Maudie hit two home runs and registered six RBI to pace the Vuclans' bats.
 
Slippery Rock and California will complete the PSAC West four-game series with a doubleheader at Jack Critchfield Park on Saturday. First pitch of game one is set for 1 p.m.
 
 
 


To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics), Instagram (RockAthletics) and Snapchat (@RockAthletics).