SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team took a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader from Gannon University Tuesday at Jack Critchfield Park to earn a four-game series split with the Golden Knights.
 
The Rock won game one, 5-4, followed by a 4-3 victory in game two. With the wins, Slippery Rock's record improves to 14-5 overall and 5-3 in the PSAC West while Gannon falls to 6-8 overall and 4-4 in league games.
 
SRU was led on the day by Jon Kozarian, who strung together one of the best doubleheaders of his career. Over the two games, Kozarian went 5-for-7 with two runs scored, two home runs, six RBI and a double. Through 19 games, Kozarian is hitting .565 with five home runs and 23 RBI.
 
Alex Robenolt also enjoyed a productive day at the plate Tuesday as he was 5-for-7 over the doubleheader.
 
Andy McClymonds (3-0) and JT Wolke (2-2) came out of The Rock's bullpen in game one and two, respectively, to provide SRU with invaluable performances on the mound. The duo ended the afternoon by combining to throw 9.2 innings and allow just one run.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 5 – Gannon 4
An RBI-single by Kozarian that plated Colin Cain in the fifth inning proved to be the difference in a 5-4 game-one victory for The Rock.
 
Kozarian went 2-for-4 with three RBI overall in game one while Abraham Mow belted a solo home run in the fourth inning. The homer was the 20th of Mow's career, tying him with Mike Sikorski for ninth place in program history.
 
Robenolt and Cain were both 2-for-4 with Cain scoring one run. Anthony Cinicola, Connor Hamilton, Quentin Brown, and Nick Reynosa all added hits as well with Hamilton and Reynosa also drawing one walk apiece.
 
Ricky Mineo struck out five batters while surrendering four runs on seven hits and a walk in a no-decision start. McClymonds came on for Mineo in the fifth and proceeded to throw three shutout innings as he scattered four hits over his third win of 2021.
 
Slippery Rock carried a 3-1 lead into the third inning after a run-scoring single by Cinicola and a two-RBI base hit by Kozarian. Gannon went on to get one run back in the fourth only for SRU to push its advantage back out to two runs at 4-2 courtesy of a leadoff home run in the fourth inning by Mow.
 
The Rock's lead was once again short-lived as Brandon Wetherholt hit a two-run home run to straightaway center field to tie the contest at 4-4 and chase Mineo from the game in favor of McClymonds in the fifth inning. SRU would persevere though as McClymonds got out of the frame without allowing another run to set the stage for The Rock's fifth-inning rally.
 
Cain led off the inning with a single before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Reynosa. Two batters later, Kozarian delivered a two-out single to right field that plated Cain and gave The Rock a 5-4 lead.
 
The Golden Knights appeared poised to tie the game in the sixth inning as Kieran Gagnon hit a double and advanced to third on a balk to give GU the tying-runner 90 feet from home with no outs. However, McClymonds once again came up big as he calmly registered three consecutive outs to maintain the one-run lead.
 
Gannon recorded two hits in the seventh, but McClymonds clinched the win by inducing a double play and forcing a soft lineout to third base for the game's final out.
 
Jimmy Colvin (0-1) was the pitcher of record for Gannon after allowing the go-ahead run in 0.1 innings pitched.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 4 – Gannon 3
SRU was once again able to earn a one-win in game two as Wolke shut down a pesky Gannon offense and Kozarian hit two home runs in a 4-3 victory.
 
GU scored twice in the first inning, but SRU countered with three runs over its first two trips to the plate off of a Kozarian solo home run in the first inning as well as a run-scoring single from Kozarian in the second with a Joel Spishock RBI-groundout sandwiched in between to give The Rock a 3-1 lead.
 
Gannon was able to briefly tie the game in the third inning, but Slippery Rock promptly re-took the lead in the fifth inning when Kozarian belted his second home run of the game. Wolke dominated the remainder of the contest for SRU as he did not yield a hit or allow a Gannon base runner over the final two innings to seal the game two win.
 
Wolke pitched a career-long 6.2 innings and tallied six strikeouts all the while limiting Gannon to just one run on four hits. Andrew Shivak started the game for SRU and allowed two runs on three walks in 0.1 innings.
 
Kozarian concluded the contest a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, two home runs and three RBI. Robenolt also turned in a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate with Hamilton and Luke Trueman accounting for The Rock's other two hits.
 
Gannon reliever Kevin Schott (0-1) gave up the game-winning run while striking out three batters in 3.1 innings pitched.



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