SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader Monday against Indiana University (Pa.) at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
Slippery Rock (14-25, 4-18 PSAC West) won game one in dramatic fashion, 4-2, via a Joe Campagna walk-off home run before losing game two to the Crimson Hawks (15-26, 8-16 PSAC West), 6-5.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 4 – Indiana 2
As was the case in its two losses at Indiana on April 27, Slippery Rock once again jumped out to an early lead followed by an IUP comeback in game one on Monday. However, unlike its road misfortunes, SRU was able to withstand the Crimson Hawks' comeback bid in the opener to earn a 4-2 victory.
 
SRU posted two early runs as Abraham Mow delivered a run-scoring single in the first that plated Frankie Jezioro, who went on to belt a solo home run to left field in the third inning. The Rock's lead lasted until Indiana pushed back with two runs of its own in the fifth to tie the game at 2-2.
 
The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh. Jezioro opened the inning by reaching base on a fielding error. Two batters later, Campagna came to the plate and ripped a 1-1 pitch far over the left field wall to give The Rock a 4-2 victory.
 
The game-winning home run was Campagna's second walk-off hit at The Rock; he also tallied a walk-off single against IUP last year.
 
Campagna, who went 2-for-3 with one run scored and two RBI, now has a team-best nine home runs in 2019. The shot also moved him into a tie with Matt Adams for the fifth most career home runs in Slippery Rock history (27).
 
Jezioro finished the opener 2-for-3 with three runs scored, one home run and one RBI. The senior leadoff hitter now has eight home runs on the season and 19 for his career; the 10th most in Rock history.
 
Mow, Luke Trueman and Joe Sibeto accounted for The Rock's other three hits with Mow also walking twice in addition to his aforementioned home run.
 
Wyatt Daugherty was great for The Rock in the no-decision performance on the mound. He scattered two unearned runs on three hits and one walk while striking out seven batters over six innings.
 
Alex Worthington (2-2) came on in relief of Daugherty in the seventh and pitched a flawless inning of relief to earn the victory.
 
GAME TWO: Indiana 6 – Slippery Rock 5
Slippery Rock controlled the nightcap for six innings, but the Crimson Hawks were able to come up with a little seventh-inning magic of their own to pull off a 6-5 comeback victory.
 
Ray Scala accounted for two of The Rock's four hits in game two. Included in his hit total was a three-run double.
 
Colin Cain and Jon Kozarian also had hits in game two. Jezioro reached base three times after walking once and being hit by a pitch on two occasions. Mow and Cain also reached base on walks.
 
Slippery Rock produced all five of its runs in the second inning. Entering the frame trailing 2-0, SRU quickly went to work on getting back into the game.
 
Cain, who led off the inning with a double and later advanced to third on an error, scored on a wild pitch for The Rock's first run. SRU went on to load the bases to set the stage for Scala's three-run double before scoring on an RBI-groundout by Campagna to make it a 5-2 game in favor of The Rock early on.
 
Indiana would get one run back in the fourth, but SRU was still able to take a 5-3 lead into the seventh inning with the chance to clinch the sweep.
 
However, the first three batters of the inning all reached base for the Crimson Hawks. Luke Hollander then stepped to the plate and drove a bases-clearing double to left field, giving IUP a 6-5 advantage it would never relinquish. SRU was able to get out of the top of the seventh without allowing any further runs, but was unable to rally back in the bottom of the frame as Indiana escaped with the one-run win.
 
Tanner Stanz gave The Rock four innings on the mound in game two, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk. Derek Boben entered for Stanz in the fifth and went on to work around one hit and three walks to throw 1.1 scoreless innings. Worthington (2-3) was the pitcher of record for Slippery Rock after giving up three runs over 1.2 innings.  
 
Slippery Rock will return to competition Tuesday when it hosts Pitt-Johnstown for a PSAC West doubleheader at Jack Critchfield Park. First pitch of game one is set for 1 p.m.



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