WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader against California University (Pa.) Friday at Wild Things Park in Washington, Pennsylvania.
 
On a day in which both games were decided in the final inning, Slippery Rock took the opener, 7-4, before losing game two, 5-4.

The split moves The Rock's record to 10-3 on the season overall and 1-1 in league games while California goes to 10-4 overall and 1-1 in conference competition.
 
The quartet of Vince Donato, Connor Hamilton, Jon Kozarian and Alex Robenolt all had hits in both games Friday to pace The Rock.
 
Donato went 4-for-7 over the doubleheader with two RBI and a double. Hamilton also posted four-hits on the afternoon as part of a 4-for-6 day that included one RBI and one double.
 
Kozarian had one hit and each game, one being his third home run of the season, while also scoring three runs and driving in another. Robenolt drove in two runs on three hits, including his PSAC-best 10th double of the year.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 7 – Cal U 4
Slippery Rock erased a late one-run deficit with an explosive seventh inning en route to a 7-4 game-one victory over the Vulcans.
 
Trailing 4-3 and down to their final three outs, The Rock went to work on mounting a comeback.
 
Kozarian led off the inning with a single and promptly scored off of a run-scoring double by Hamilton to even the game at 4-4. Two batters later, SRU took advantage of a California fielding error to put Hamilton on third base and Quentin Brown on second with just one out.  
 
Following a Colin Cain walk, Donato provided SRU with what turned out to be the game-winning run when he shot a single to left field, scoring Hamilton and giving The Rock a 5-4 advantage. Koby Bubash gave Slippery Rock additional extra run-support via a two-run single to push SRU's lead to 7-4 before Cal reliever Patrick Gumto could get out of the inning.
 
Rock reliver Andy McClymonds came out of the bullpen for The Rock in the bottom of the seventh and retired the side in order to close out the victory. The save was McClymonds' third of the year.
 
SRU produced 14 hits in the opener with all nine position players accounting for at least one hit.
 
Hamilton went 3-for-4 with one RBI while the trio of Robenolt, Donato and Nick Reynosa all tallied a pair of hits. Brown, Cain and Bubash rounded out the offensive leaders with one hit apiece and Bubash supplying SRU with two RBI.
 
Luke Trueman (2-1) earned the win for The Rock after turning in a solid outing that saw the SRU No. 1 starter go six innings and scatter four runs on seven hits and two walks while throwing eight strikeouts.
 
Nick Riggle (3-1) was the pitcher of record for the Vulcans. He surrendered five runs on 12 hits in six innings. Gumto recorded the final three outs of the contest while allowing two runs.
 
GAME TWO: CAL U 5 – SLIPPERY ROCK 4
Slippery Rock appeared poised to pull off another seventh-inning comeback, but the Vulcans were able to spoil SRU's day with 5-4 victory in game two.
 
SRU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against the Vulcans in game two thanks to a solo home run from Kozarian in the first inning. The Rock maintained the one-run advantage over the next five innings as Christian Seelhorst pitched five shutout innings to send SRU into the sixth inning with the one-run lead intact.
 
Seelhorst struck out the first batter he faced in the sixth inning, but would then walk the next two Vulcan batters before leaving the game for McClymonds. California's David Lee proceeded to give the Vulcans their first lead of the day at 3-1 as he belted a three-run home run over the left field wall. Following the home run and a California double, JT Wolke came on in relief of McClymonds to record the final two outs of the inning.
 
As was the case in game one, Slippery Rock stormed back in the seventh with another impressive frame.
 
Hamilton and Robenolt led off the inning with back-to-back singles with Joel Spishock and Donato coming through with consecutive run-scoring hits later in the inning to knot the contest at 3-3. Trueman then supplied SRU with the go-ahead run in the form of an RBI-single that plated Spishock.
 
However, The Rock's comeback bid was spoiled by the Vulcans' own late-inning heroics as Cal U was able to put the first two batters of on base in the bottom of the seventh to set the stage for a Patrick Brogan walk-off double, giving California a tight 5-4 victory.
 
Seelhorst registered seven strikeouts and just one hit allowed in 5.1 innings of work. JT Wolke (1-2) was the pitcher of record for The Rock in game two as he gave up two runs, only one of which was earned, in two-thirds of an inning pitched.
 
Donato registered for two of The Rock's seven hits in game two with a solid 2-for-3 performance that included a double and an RBI.
 
Kozarian's home run was his team-leading third of the season. Hamilton, Robenolt, Spishock and Trueman accounted for SRU's remaining hits with Spishock and Trueman also collecting one RBI apiece.
 
California reliever Miller Jackson earned the victory while Lee and Brogan combined to drive in all five runs for the Vulcans.
 
Slippery Rock and California return to competition with another doubleheader Saturday at Jack Critchfield Park. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
 
 
 
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