SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University freshman third baseman Abraham Mow hit a three-run walk-off home run in game two of Tuesday's non-conference doubleheader against Walsh University to help SRU to a split against the Cavaliers at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
Slippery Rock lost the opener, 8-5, before rebounding for a dramatic 12-9 win in game two.
 
The doubleheader split moves The Rock's record to 28-14 overall in 2018. The 28 wins represent the most victories by a Rock team in the last three years. Walsh, which competes in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, exits Slippery Rock with a 22-19 record.
 
Mow's performance on Tuesday was a story of perseverance. He went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in game one and began game two 0-for-1 while also being hit by a pitch in his second at-bat. However, he started to turn things around in the fourth inning of game two with an RBI-double. Following a strikeout in the fifth, Mow stepped to the plate with two runners on in the seventh with the game tied at 9-9 and proceeded to send the second pitch of his at-bat over the left field wall, giving SRU a 12-9 walk off victory.
 
The game-winning blast was Mow's 10th home run of the season. The only freshman to hit more home runs than Mow in The Rock's illustrious program history is Tyler Walters, who hit 13 home runs as a rookie in 2015.
 
Slippery Rock received significant contributions from bottom of its batting order on Tuesday. Frankie Jezioro continued his hot streak by going 4-for-7 with four runs, five RBI, a double and a home run over the doubleheader. Kyle Wise turned in a doubleheader performance in which he went 4-for-7 with three runs scored and one RBI as well.
 
Over his last four games, Jezioro has went 9-for-14 with seven runs, eight RBI and two home runs. On the year, he is batting .353 with 37 runs, five home runs, 30 RBI and 15 stolen bases. Wise has also been surging as of late, going 6-for-12 with five runs and five RBI in The Rock's last three contests.
 
GAME ONE: Walsh 8 – Slippery Rock 5
Slippery Rock was unable to rally back from an early offensive explosion by the Cavaliers in the opener as Walsh earned an 8-5 victory in game one.
 
Walsh tagged Rock starting pitcher Alex Worthington (1-1) for two runs in the first and four more in the second to jump out to a 6-0 lead. To his credit, Worthington, who was making his first collegiate start, settled in after the shaky start to throw three consecutive scoreless innings before leaving the game prior to the start of the sixth inning.
 
SRU cut the Cavaliers lead in half in the third inning when Wise shot a single up the middle to score Jezioro from second base before scoring himself two batters later when Luca Fuscardo snuck a home run inside the foul post down the left field line to make it a 6-3 game.
 
However, SRU went hitless over the next two innings and Walsh added two insurance runs in the sixth inning to stretch its lead out to 8-3. Slippery Rock tacked on a pair of runs of its own in the bottom of the sixth when Christian Porterfield hit an RBI-double and later scored on a wild pitch, but The Rock stranded one batter at the end of the sixth and went down in order in the seventh to allow Walsh to hang on for the victory.
 
Walters and Porterfield both went 2-for-3 with one run scored in game one. Fuscardo's home run was his fifth of the season and second in the last three games. Jezioro and Wise accounted for The Rock's other two hits.
 
Of Worthington's six runs allowed, only two were earned. He also threw five strikeouts while scattering five hits and three walks over five innings. Derek Boben pitched the final two innings, surrendering two runs on five hits and two walks to go with one strikeout.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 12 – Walsh 9
It appeared as if Walsh was on its way to a doubleheader sweep of The Rock when it built a six-run lead in the fourth inning, but The Rock's bats came alive in the nick of time and Stephen McKee provided SRU with three great innings of relief as Slippery Rock stormed back for a 12-9 win.
 
The Rock led 3-0 early, but Walsh went for five runs in the third inning and four more in the fourth to build a seemingly safe 9-3 edge on Slippery Rock. The nine runs would be all that Walsh could produce as McKee, who entered the game for the final out of the fourth inning, allowed just two hits in 3.1 innings of scoreless work out of the SRU bullpen over the remainder of the game.
 
While McKee silenced the Walsh offense, Slippery Rock's bats went to work starting in the fourth when, with Jezioro and Wise on base, Mow shot a run-scoring double to left field that plated Jezioro followed by a Fuscardo groundout that allowed Wise to cross home and whittle the Walsh lead down to 9-5.
 
Slippery Rock placed two of its first three batters on base in the fifth when Porterfield led the inning off with a walk to go with a bunt-single by Mitchell Wood that brought Jezioro up with one out. The speedy junior proceeded to blast a 1-0 pitch that cleared the fence in right-center, pulling SRU to within one run at 9-8.
 
The Rock's comeback bid briefly stalled after a scoreless sixth inning, but Wood got Slippery Rock going again in the bottom of the seventh when he hit a leadoff home run that tied the game at 9-9.
 
Not content with extra innings, Slippery Rock continued to be the aggressors as Ray Scala took advantage of fielding error to reach second base and Wise legged out an infield single to move Scala, the game's winning run, to third base for Mow, who sent the fans at Critchfield Park home happy when he launched his game-deciding home run.
 
Mow finished game two 2-for-4 with one run, five RBI a double and a home run. The trio of Wood, Jezioro and Wise were all 3-for-4 with Jezioro driving in four runs and Wood tallying two RBI.
 
McKee improved to 2-2 on the season after his clutch performance. In his last two appearances, McKee is 2-0 with no runs allowed in 5.1 innings pitched. Donald Colucci Jr. got the start for The Rock in game two. He went two innings, allowing four runs, only one of which was earned, on two hits and three walks. Andrew Null came on for Colucci and gave up five runs in 1.2 innings before giving way to McKee.

Slippery Rock closes the regular season this weekend with a final Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division series against Gannon University. SRU will host GU for a doubleheader Friday before traveling to Erie, Pennsylvania for a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. on both days.
 
 
 
 

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