ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team was swept in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader at No. 18 Mercyhurst University Friday in Erie, Pennsylvania.
 
The Lakers (22-8, 11-5 PSAC West) survived a scare from Slippery Rock (12-19, 3-13 PSAC West) in the opener to claim a 5-4 victory before scoring seven consecutive runs to take game two, 7-4.
 
Abraham Mow and Jon Kozarian both hit home runs for The Rock on Friday and combined to drive in six of SRU's eight runs scored over the doubleheader.
 
Joe Campagna increased his reached base streak to 31 games after going 1-for-4 with three walks and a run scored over the doubleheader. His 31 straight games reaching base is the third longest such streak by a Rock player in the last 10 years, trailing only Will Kengor (41 / 2013) and Adam Urbania (34 / 2015).
 
GAME ONE: Mercyhurst 5 – Slippery Rock 4
Slippery Rock went toe-to-toe with the nationally ranked Lakers in game one, but came up just short in a one-run defeat.
 
Mercyhurst starting pitcher Christian Young struck out seven of the first 10 batters he faced, with Ray Scala accounting for The Rock's lone hit, while Domenic DeRenzo hit a solo home run to push the Lakers out to an early 1-0 lead after three innings.
 
The Rock finally got to Young in the fourth inning. Following a one-out walk by Campagna, Mow crushed a two-run home run to give SRU a 2-1 lead. The homer was Mow's fourth of the season. 
 
It appeared as if Mercyhurst was going to get the runs back and then some when it loaded the bases with just one out in the bottom of the fourth, but Rock pitcher JT Wolke was able to work out of the jam without allowing a run to maintain SRU's one-run lead.
 
In the bottom of the fifth Wolke would hit Dan Elliott to put a runner on base before Alex O'Donnell belted a two-run home run, giving Mercyhurst the lead back at 3-2. The Lakers went on to add a run in the sixth to take a seemingly safe two-run advantage into the final inning.
 
Undeterred, The Rock fought back. With Colin Cain already on first base, Luke Trueman connected on a double to give SRU runners on second and third with no outs in the inning. Both Cain and Trueman went on to score the following at-bat on a field error to tie the contest at 4-4 with a runner on first base.
 
However, SRU's comeback bid ended there as Mercyhurst got out of the top of the frame without allowing a run while proceeding to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh with just one out and DeRenzo coming to the plate. DeRenzo flied out to left field, but it was deep enough for the runner from third to come home, giving the Lakers a 5-4 win.
 
Mow, Trueman, Scala and Frankie Jezioro all had hits for SRU in the opener with Mow's being a home run while Scala and Trueman's came by way of doubles.
 
Wolke gave a solid showing for The Rock on the mound, scattering three runs over 4.1 innings pitched while striking out three batters. Worthington (1-2) pitched the final 2.1 innings in relief, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk to go with three strikeouts.
 
Young finished the game with 14 strikeouts in a no-decision effort. Adam Jeannette was the pitcher of record for Mercyhurst.
 
GAME TWO: Mercyhurst 7 – Slippery Rock 4
The Lakers held SRU to one hit over the first six innings and scored the first seven runs of the contest on the way to a 7-4 victory in game two.
 
Kozarian led the way for The Rock in the loss by hitting a grand slam. The home run was his second of the season. Campagna and Alex Robenolt accounted for The Rock's other two hits with Campagna's coming by way of a double.
 
SRU did draw eight walks in game two. Jezioro, who also stole his team-high seventh base of the year, earned three of the free passes followed by two from Campagna and one each from Mow, Tyler Merigliano and Joe Sibeto.
 
Andy McClymonds (1-1) was Slippery Rock's starting pitcher. He went five innings, giving up three runs on four walks and three hits. Trueman pitched the remaining two innings. He had four strikeouts as well as four runs allowed on three hits and two walks.
 
Mercyhurst carried a 3-0 lead into the fourth inning while adding four runs over the fifth and sixth to take a 7-0 lead on The Rock. Lakers starting pitcher Matt Minnick limited Slippery Rock to just one hit over six innings while striking out 11 batters.
 
Slippery Rock made things interesting in the seventh inning as Kozarian hit his first career grand slam followed by Campagna earning a walk, but Mercyhurst pitcher Jared Kapturasky squashed any hopes of an SRU comeback by coming on to register three straight outs to end the threat and seal the win.
 
Minnick improved to 4-2 with the win. Kapturasky's save was his first in 2019.
 
Weather pending, Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst will finish off their four-game PSAC West series with a doubleheader Saturday at Jack Critchfield Park. First pitch of game one is set for 1 p.m.
 


 
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