ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team opened the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division portion of its 2019 schedule up with a pair of losses against Gannon University on Saturday at McConnell Family Field in Erie, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock lost the opener 11-6 followed by a 15-9 setback in game two. The losses drop The Rock's record to 6-7 overall and 0-2 in league competition while Gannon improves to 12-6 overall and 2-0 in the PSAC West.
 
Frankie Jezioro collected three hits over the doubleheader to go with two runs, three RBI, one home run and a stolen base. The home run was his second of the season. Jon Kozarian also had a four-hit day at the plate that included four RBI. Mike Collins went 3-for-5 over the doubleheader with three runs scored two RBI and a walk.
 
GAME ONE: GANNON 11 – SLIPPERY ROCK 6
Gannon jumped out to a 5-2 lead on The Rock over the first two innings on the way to its 11-6 game-one victory.
 
SRU briefly cut into Gannon's lead in the third inning when Collins brought Abraham Mow in from third base with a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-3 game, but the Golden Knights put any thoughts of a comeback to rest by producing three runs in the fourth and fifth innings to stretch their lead out to 11-3.
 
Slippery Rock closed out the contest by scoring once in the sixth via a Kozarian RBI-single and two runs in the seventh on a Luke Trueman run-scoring base hit followed by another sacrifice fly by Collins, but never truly threatened Gannon as GU closed claimed the five-run victory in the opener.
 
In a contest that saw The Rock record just six hits, Trueman and Kozarian both tallied two hits with Kozarian driving in a pair of runs as well. Collins matched Kozarian with two RBI of his own. Jezioro and Tyler Merigliano accounted for SRU's other two hits. Slippery Rock was just 4-for-20 with runners on base in game one.
 
Tanner Stanz (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season on the mound for The Rock after giving up eight runs, only four of which were earned, on seven hits and one walk in four innings pitched. JT Wolke and Alex Worthington finished out the day for SRU out of the bullpen. Wolke gave up three runs on two hits and two walks in the fifth with Worthington throwing a scoreless sixth frame.
 
Deven Judy (2-0) went six innings for the Golden Knights, allowing four runs on five hits and five walks while striking out five batters. Ryan Kalbfus, Gannon's ninth hitter in the batting order, drove in four runs.
 
GAME TWO: GANNON 15 – SLIPPERY ROCK 9
No lead was safe in game two as The Rock and Golden Knights traded leads every half inning through the middle stages of the game, but a six-run fourth inning ultimately proved too much for The Rock to overcome in a 15-9 game-two defeat.
 
Slippery Rock collected 16 hits in the night cap, its second highest single-game total of the year. The duo of Collins and Kyle Bowser led the way with matching three-hit, two-run, one-double showings. Mow also registered a multi-hit game on a 3-for-4 performance
 
Jezioro was 2-for-4 with two runs, three RBI a home run and a stolen base. Kozarian followed his solid game-one performance up with a two-hit, two-RBI day in game two. Joe Campagna made his only hit of the game count with a two-run home run.  Trueman and Merigliano rounded out The Rock's top hitters in game two with one hit each.
 
Jaret Peterson got the start for The Rock on the mound. He lasted three innings, giving up six runs on seven hits and three walks while tossing four strikeouts. Derek Boben (0-1) gave up four runs, all of which were unearned, in 0.2 innings of work while Joe Dombrowski threw the final two innings, surrendering five runs on 59 pitches.
 
Gannon struck first with a two-on, two-out RBI-single by Ian Steighner in the second inning, but Slippery Rock quickly responded in the third when Campagna belted his first home run of the season with Jezioro on base. The Rock's lead was short-lived as Nate Cardy led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run followed later in the inning by a two-run double off the bat of Kalbfus to give Gannon a 4-2 lead.
 
Not to be out done, Slippery Rock fired back in the top of the fourth. Following a single by Collins and a double by Bowser, Jezioro launched a three-run home run as Slippery Rock re-took the lead, 5-4.
 
Gannon answered The Rock's counter punch with a knockout blow of its own in the form of a six-run explosion in the bottom of the fourth to produce the game's fourth lead change as the Golden Knights took a sizeable 10-5 advantage into the contest's final three innings.
 
Slippery Rock mounted one last rally in the sixth when Kozarian shot a single through the left side of the infield to score Collins from third base to cut Gannon's lead down to four runs at 10-6 with no outs and two runners on base. SRU pushed its second run of the inning across home when Jezioro stole second base and Bowser scored from third base on a throwing error by Gannon catcher Elijah Quiceno.
 
However, The Rock's comeback bid ended there. Gannon starting pitcher Jarod Morrison (3-1) was able to get out of the inning without allowing any further damage followed by five more insurance runs in the bottom of the frame and a harmless two-run seventh inning by The Rock that sealed the doubleheader sweep for Gannon, 15-9.
 
All nine Gannon starters had at least one hit including Quiceno, who supplied four RBI and one home run.
 
Slippery Rock and Gannon will close out the weekend with a doubleheader Sunday at Jack Critchfield Park. Game one of The Rock's first home doubleheader of the season is set for 1 p.m.



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