JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team increased its winning streak to nine games with a doubleheader sweep of Pitt-Johnstown Sunday afternoon at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock took the opener from the Mountain Cats, 7-3, and rallied back from a five-run deficit for an 8-7 win in game two to earn the four-game series sweep.
 
SRU exits the weekend with a 17-7 overall record and in first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division standings with a 10-2 league mark. Pitt-Johnstown's record drops to 6-19 on the year overall and 3-9 the PSAC West.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock hit five home runs over the doubleheader. Joe Campagna led the way Sunday with two home runs, one of which was a grand slam, and five RBI. The homers were Campagna's second and third of the season. Campagna is the first Slippery Rock athlete to hit two grand slams in a single season since Matt Howard in 2011.
 
Tyler Walters, Christian Porterfield and Frankie Jezioro all launched home runs as well Sunday. Porterfield now leads SRU with seven home runs this season with Walters close behind at six. Jezioro's long ball was his third of 2018.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 7 – Pitt-Johnstown 3
Campagna's fifth-inning grand slam proved to be the difference for Slippery Rock in its four-run victory in the opener.
 
On a day where the temperature failed to top 35 degrees, The Rock and Mountain Cats combined for eight errors in game one with Pitt-Johnstown committing five miscues and SRU totaling three.
 
Slippery Rock tallied four hits in the opener as Campagna, Walters, Abraham Mow and Luca Fuscardo accounted for one hit apiece. Campagna finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored, a home run and four RBI. Fuscardo also drove one run in while Mow stroked his ninth double of the season.
 
The pitching duo of Chris Anastas (4-0) and Tanner Stanz combined to hold UPJ to six hits and three runs, only one of which was earned.
 
Anastas gave The Rock six innings, scattering three runs on four hits and a trio of walks to go with three strikeouts on the way to his fourth win of the year. Anastas, who has won his last three starts, has given up just two earned runs in his last 17 innings. Stanz came on in the seventh to throw a scoreless inning to seal the victory.

Slippery Rock, which scored its first three runs without a hit, entered the fifth inning tied with UPJ at 3-3 and in search of its first hit of the day. SRU loaded the bases when Mitchell Wood reached base on an error, Walters pushed a single to left field and Porterfield was hit by a pitch to bring Campagna to the plate. Campagna took the first pitch he saw and promptly sent it over the left field wall to break the game open with SRU ahead 7-3.
 
Following the big fifth inning, Anastas tossed a perfect sixth frame before giving way to Stanz, who successfully navigated around a pair of two-out hits in the seventh by forcing Scott Thompson to lineout to third base for the game's final out.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 8 – Pitt-Johnstown 7
Slippery Rock trailed by as many as five runs in game two before rallying to score six unanswered runs capped off by a walk-off single from Wood.
 
SRU belted four home runs in the nightcap with Walters, Porterfield, Campagna and Jezioro all going deep. Jezioro's homer came as part of a 3-for-3 day. Wood also had a double in addition to his game-winning single en route to a 2-for-3 effort. Tyler Merigliano and Mow tallied The Rock's other two hits against the Mountain Cats.
 
Walters gave The Rock an early 2-0 advantage in the first inning when he launched his second home run in the last three games. However, the lead was short-lived as Pitt-Johnstown answered back in the top of the second with three runs to take a one-run lead at 3-2.
 
The Mountain Cats pushed their lead to 7-2 in the fourth in an inning in which Slippery Rock used three pitchers, allowing two hits, four walks and a pair of wild pitches before Stanz was able to record the third out.
 
Relief pitchers Andrew Null and Wyatt Daugherty came on to silence UPJ's dangers bats the rest of the day by combining to throw three scoreless innings to finish off the game.
 
Slippery Rock quickly got to work on its comeback bid with solo home runs over the following two innings by Jezioro, Porterfield and Campagna to trim UPJ's advantaged down to just two runs. SRU continued to cut into Pitt-Johnstown lead in the sixth inning when Wood, who doubled to lead off the inning, advanced to home on back-to-back wild pitches to pull The Rock to within one at 7-6.
 
Jezioro singled and Ray Scala walked to begin the seventh inning leading to an RBI-double by Mow that tied the game. Immodestly following Mow's game-tying hit, Wood stepped in and delivered a single up the middle that allowed the game-winning run to score, giving SRU the 8-7 walk-off victory.
 
Daugherty improved to 2-1 on the season with his perfect seventh inning of work and has now surrendered just one run in his last six appearances (eight innings). Ryan Tapp got the start for SRU, going 3.1 innings and giving up seven runs on five hits and three walks. Shawn Holman came on in relief of Tapp for 0.1 innings before giving way to the combination of Stanz, Null and Daugherty.
 
Slippery Rock will break from its PSAC West schedule for a mid-week non-conference doubleheader against Mansfield University beginning 1 p.m. Tuesday at Jack Critchfield Park.
 

 
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