CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team dropped both games of its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division road doubleheader against California University (Pa.) Saturday.
The Vulcans (11-3, 11-3 PSAC West) took game one, 6-5, in eight innings before completing the sweep with a 4-2 win in game two.
The Rock (1-9, 1-9 PSAC West) was led on the day by catcher
Leah Vith who went 3-for-6 over the two games with a triple, a run scored and an RBI. Additionally,
Cami Fisk added two hits and two RBI while
Courtney Hoffman and
Alexa Guglielmino added two hits and an RBI apiece in game one.
Pitcher
Chloe Sharman (0-0, 3.57 ERA) continued her dominant stretch in the circle as a reliever, totaling 5.1 innings over the doubleheader and allowing just three hits in addition to four strikeouts.
Game One: Cal U 6, Rock 5 (Eight Innings)
Slippery Rock held a one-run lead in the seventh inning, but was unable to close out the win as the Vulcans rallied with to force extra innings before securing a 6-5 game one victory on a walk-off RBI-single in the eighth.
Trailing 3-1 entering the third inning, Slippery Rock responded with three runs of its own on back-to-back RBI-singles by Hoffman and Guglielmino in addition to scoring a third run off of a Cal U fielding error to take a 4-3 lead. SRU extended its advantage to 5-3 in the fourth when
Regan Hozak scored on a Fisk fielder's choice.
However, the advantage was quickly evaporated when Cal U scored a run in the fifth and a run in the seventh to force extra innings.
After Kaitlyn Leary (4-2, 2.38 ERA) retired Slippery Rock in order in the eighth, the Vulcans parlayed a leadoff baserunner into securing the 6-5 comeback victory on a walk-off RBI-single by Alexa Pastor.
Rock game one starting pitcher
Kelsi Anderson (1-4, 4.04 ERA) took the loss after allowing six runs, three being earned, on six hits in addition to tallying eight strikeouts before giving way to Sharman who retired a batter before allowing the game-winning hit.
Hoffman and Guglielmino led The Rock offense with two hits and an RBI apiece while Fisk added two RBI and Vith went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Leary earned the win in relief of Cal U starter Ellie Lobdell (3-1, 3.26) who allowed one run on four hits in just one inning of work. Pastor led the Vulcan offense in game one going 3-for-4 with two RBI while Charity Henderson went 2-for-2 with an RBI-double and a run scored.
Game Two: Cal U 4, Rock 2
Sharman was stellar in relief of SRU game two starting pitcher
Claire Zimmerman (0-5, 5.87 ERA), allowing just two hits and striking out four over five innings, but California scored four runs over the first two innings to take a lead it wouldn't relinquish in a 4-2 game-two victory.
Vith led the Slippery Rock offense in game two, going 1-for-3 with an RBI-triple while
Maggie Moore added an RBI-single in the seventh inning. Zimmerman took the loss after yielding four runs on four hits in one inning of work.
Jordan Pinneri and Mackenzie Carson each had an RBI-triple for Cal U in game two while Paige Wilson added an RBI-double and a walk. Britney Wilson tallied a solo-home run in support of Kelsey Barron (4-0, 2.55 ERA) who earned the win after allowing just two runs, one being earned, in the complete-game effort.
The Vulcans chased Zimmerman from the game in the second inning after recording three-straight RBI-hits including a Wilson leadoff home run and back-to-back RBI-triples by Pinneri and Carson to take a 3-0 lead. Sharman was able to work out of the jam by limiting the damage to just one additional run as Cal U took a 4-0 into the third inning.
SRU struck back with runs in the fourth and seventh innings thanks to an RBI-triple off the bat of Vith and a pinch-hit RBI-single by Moore, but were unable to complete the comeback as Barron stranded runners on first and second in the final frame to secure the 4-2 win in game two.
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock returns to action when it welcomes California to the SRU Softball Complex to complete the four-game set March 30th. First pitch of game one is set for 2:30 p.m.
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