CARY, N.C. – A huge first inning set the tone for the Slippery Rock University baseball team in an 18-6 victory against Molloy University Friday at the Division II Challenge in Cary, North Carolina.
 
The victory pushed Slippery Rock's winning streak to four games and in the process improved its record on the season to 4-1. The Rock's four-game winning streak is the longest active streak of any team in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division. Molloy drops to 6-3 in 2020 with the loss.
 
In a game in which all nine SRU position players reached base at least once, Slippery Rock was led by Connor Hamilton, who continued his hot streak to start the 2020 season with arguably the best game of his collegiate career. Hamilton went 4-for-5 with three runs scored, five RBI, two home runs and a double. He is now one of just 15 SRU players over the last decade to have hit two or more home runs in a single game.
 
Hamilton has now reached base in seven of his last eight plate appearances dating back to The Rock's 8-7 win at West Virginia State on March 1. He is 6-for-7 with a walk, three home runs and six RBI over the stretch.
 
Leadoff hitter Abraham Mow was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI thanks in no small part to a pair of doubles and two additional walks. Anthony Cinicola, Vince Donato and Jon Kozarian collected two hits apiece as well with Cinicola also driving in a career-best three runs.
 
Luke Trueman belted his first home run of the season while Joel Spishock and Quentin Brown each tallied hits as well. Alex Robenolt walked twice, drove in run and scored two runs to round out The Rock's top contributors at the plate.
 
Not to be overshadowed by The Rock's potent offense was starting pitcher Andrew Shivak (1-0), who earned his first win of the season after turning an a great performance that saw Shivak scatter one run on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four batters over five innings of work.
 
Corey Burkes and Drew Delaney both saw their first action of the year out of The Rock's bullpen Friday. Burkes allowed one run in an inning of relief while Delaney, a true freshman, earned the three-inning save after giving up just one run on three walks and three strikeouts in his first collegiate appearance.
 
The combination of Mow and Hamilton got The Rock's spring trip started on the right foot as Mow led the game off with a double followed two batters later by Hamilton, who promptly connected on his second home run of the 2020 season on a 1-2 pitch over the centerfield wall.
 
SRU went on to add five more runs in the inning via a Molloy throwing error, back-to-back RBI-singles by Brown and Cinicola with a two-run double by Mow capping off the big frame to give Slippery Rock a comfortable 7-0 lead.
 
Slippery Rock's seven-run first inning was its highest run output to start a game over its last 154 contests since scoring 14 runs in the first inning against Gannon University on April 18, 2016 at Critchfield Park.
 
While the seven runs in the first inning were more than enough support for a Rock pitching staff which kept the Molloy bats silent until the later stages of the contest when the game had all but been decided, SRU went on to score three additional insurance runs in the second, two in the third, one in the fifth, four in the sixth and one more in the seventh en route to the 12-run victory.
 
Molloy used four pitchers in the loss including starter Anthony Vano (1-1), who gave up 10 runs, five earned, on eight hits and two walks in two innings. Peter Theodorellis went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Lions.
 
Slippery Rock will continue its time at the DII Challenge with two more games Saturday at 10 a.m. against Walsh University and 5 p.m. versus the College of Saint Rose.
 


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