SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team opened its 2020 season with a doubleheader split on the road against West Virginia State Saturday at the Shawnee Sports Complex in Dunbar, West Virginia.
 
West Virginia State (2-7) took the opener from The Rock (1-1), 7-0, but SRU bounced back to salvage the day with a 6-5 victory in game two.
 
The trio of Jon Kozarian, Abraham Mow and Alex Robenolt tallied two hits apiece over the doubleheader for The Rock with Kozarian and Mow driving in one run each and Robenolt scoring once. Kozarian also walked twice.
 
Vince Donato and Koby Bubash had impressive debuts for SRU as Donato belted one home run while scoring two runs and Bubash hit a crucial RBI-double in game two.
 
GAME ONE: West Virginia State 7 – Slippery Rock 0
West Virginia State parlayed a big first inning and a great performance on the mound by Nick Loftis (1-0) into a 7-0 victory in game one.
 
The Yellow Jackets supplied Loftis with more than enough run support via a six-run first inning as the freshman went on to strikeout 10 Rock batters while surrendering just one hit and two walks over six innings.
 
WVSU added its seventh run of the game in the fourth while Eric Illar came on for Loftis in the seventh and managed to work around two hits by getting consecutive outs to get out of the jam and preserve the shutout.
 
Kozarian went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk to pace SRU in game one. Mow and Robenolt each went 1-for-3 while Donato reached base once after being hit by a pitch to round out The Rock's top performers at the plate.
 
Game one starter Tanner Esposito (0-1) allowed seven runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three batters over 4.0 innings. To his credit, Esposito overcame the shaky first inning by giving up just one run and one hit over his final three innings pitched.
 
Ricky Mineo relieved Espostio in the fifth inning and proceeded to strikeout out three batters without allowing a hit or a walk in two innings spotless relief work.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 6 – West Virginia State 5
Slippery Rock rallied back from a four-run deficit to earn a solid 6-5 comeback victory in game two.
 
Trailing 4-0 entering the fourth inning, Slippery Rock took advantage of three West Virginia State errors en route to a four-run frame to even the contest at 4-4. Donato and Luke Trueman both scored on errors while Mow plated Robenolt via a sacrifice fly and Kozarian drove in Bubash on a run-scoring single that tied the game before WVSU was able to get out of the inning.
 
SRU continued its rally in the fifth starting with a one-out home run to centerfield by Donato followed later in the frame by an RBI-double from Bubash that plated Trueman to give The Rock a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
 
JT Wolke (1-0), who came on for starter Andrew Shivak in the fourth, proceeded to toss two near perfect innings to send the game into the seventh with SRU still leading by a pair of runs.
 
The Yellow Jackets made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh when they loaded the bases and scored one run to put runners first and third with two outs. However, Wolke forced WVSU's Chris Ruppenthal to groundout thus ending the threat with the game-tying run on third base to give Slippery Rock the one-run victory.
 
Wolke was great out of The Rock's bullpen as he allowed just one unearned run on four walks while striking out four Yellow Jackets. In his first start at The Rock, Shivak went three innings, giving up four runs, only one of which was earned, on four hits and four walks in addition to a quartet of strikeouts.
 
Mow, Kozarian, Donato, Robenolt, Bubash and Connor Hamilton all had hits for The Rock in game two with Donato's being his aforementioned home run and Mow and Bubash producing hits by way of doubles. Donator, Robenolt, Kozarian, who also stole one base, and Joel Spishock drew one walk apiece as well in the win.
 
WVSU starting pitcher Clark Reese received a no-decision after surrendering four runs in four innings. Will Porter (0-1) took the loss after giving up two runs in 0.2 innings pitched. Dane Peterson took over Porter and did not allow a run over the game's final 2.1 innings.
 
The Rock and Yellow Jackets will close the weekend with another doubleheader Sunday. First pitch of game one is set for 1 p.m.
 


To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics), Instagram (RockAthletics) and Snapchat (@RockAthletics).