SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team swept Indiana University (Pa.) in a key Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader Friday at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
Slippery Rock took the opener from IUP, 4-1, before closing out the sweep with a 5-1 victory in game two.
 
The wins improve The Rock's record 21-14 overall and 12-12 in the PSAC West. The sweep also kept Slippery Rock in the hunt for a conference tournament berth with just two days remaining in the regular season.
 
The top four teams in both the PSAC West and PSAC East standings at the end of the regular season qualify for the conference tournament. Both Seton Hill and Gannon have already secured tournament bids in the Western Division, leaving Mercyhurst (15-10), Cal U (14-12) The Rock (12-12) and Pitt-Johnstown (12-13) contending for the final two berths.
 
Due to the PSAC West being unable to complete its mandated conference schedule, the league office will use the following criteria to determine seeding:
 
a. Total wins in mandated league play
b. Total wins in head-to-head league play
c. Opponents' total wins in mandated league play
d. Total wins versus top seeded divisional team(s) progressing down until the tie is broken
e. Coin Toss
 
Slippery Rock has four games left this season while Mercyhurst, Cal U and UPJ all have just two contests remaining on their schedules. Should Slippery Rock win all four of its final games it would have a high, but not certain, probability of securing one of the remaining tournament berths.
 
Leading the way in Friday's doubleheader sweep of Indiana was the pitching trio of Luke Trueman (4-3), Christian Seelhorst (4-2) and Travis Holman. Trueman and Seelhorst provided The Rock with much-needed quality starts while Holman came out of the bullpen to shut the Crimson Hawks down in game two.
 
Quentin Brown and Connor Hamilton guided The Rock's offense. Brown went 3-for-6 over the doubleheader with two runs scored, one home run, four RBI, one walk and one stolen base. Hamilton reached base five times via a pair of hits and three walks while driving in three runs.
 
GAME ONE: Slippery Rock 4 – IUP 1
Trueman was dominant for the majority of the day and Brown supplied SRU with all the offense it needed in a 4-1 victory in game one.
 
IUP jumped out to an early lead with a run in the opening inning before Trueman settled in and proceeded to hold the Crimson Hawks scoreless and to just four hits over the next six innings. Only two Indiana baserunners reached second base from the second inning on.
 
With Trueman in firm control on the mound, Slippery Rock's bats went to work to capture the lead.
 
In the third inning, The Rock loaded the bases as Hamilton and Joel Spishock drew walks and Evan Knaus reached on a fielding error to load the bases with two outs and Brown coming to the plate. Brown promptly belted the first pitch he saw from IUP starter Mark Edeburn off the scoreboard in right field for a grand slam that gave SRU a commanding 4-1 lead.
 
Indiana never seriously threatened The Rock's lead as Trueman was masterful over the remainder of the contest en route to the three-run win.
 
For the game, Trueman scattered six hits and one run over seven innings while striking out seven batters. The outing marked Trueman's team-leading third complete game of the season. The victory also improved his record in 2021 to 4-3.
 
Brown went 2-for-4 in the opener. The grand slam was his first home run of the season while his four RBI were a career-high. Nick Reynosa also had a multi-hit game in the opener as he went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles.
 
Jon Kozarian, Alex Robenolt and Koby Bubash each had hits as well with Kozarian drawing a pair of walks and Hamilton also walking three times.
 
Edeburn (0-4) was the pitcher of record for IUP after pitching 3.2 innings and giving up Brown's grand slam. Billy Welsh threw 2.1 scoreless inning of relief for the Crimson Hawks.
 
GAME TWO: Slippery Rock 5 – Indiana 1
The combination of Seelhorst and Holman held Indiana's batters to just two hits while Slippery Rock turned a decisive four-run inning into a 5-1 sweep-clinching win.
 
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the first, Slippery Rock quickly tied the game courtesy of an RBI-single from Hamilton that brought Kozarian home from second. Seelhorst proceeded to work out of a jam in the second inning followed by pitching perfect frames in the third and fourth to maintain the 1-1 tie.
 
Slippery Rock broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth with four runs. Spishock led off the frame with a walk followed by a Brown single. One batter later, Bubash also earned a walk to load the bases for Abraham Mow, who was hit by a pitch to score the go-ahead run. Kozarian then produced the second run of the inning via a sacrifice fly before Hamilton drove a bases-clearing double to right-center to extend SRU's lead to a commanding 5-1 margin.
 
The Crimson Hawks appeared poised to mount a rally of their own in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with just one out. However, Holman came on for Seelhorst and calmly induced consecutive outs by way of a swinging strikeout and a groundout to first base to get The Rock out of the jam unscathed.
 
Holman remained unhittable over the remainder of the contest as he threw a perfect sixth inning and closed out the win with three final outs in the seventh.
 
Seelhorst was able to navigate around six walks and one hit with only one run allowed over 4.1 innings pitched to earn his fourth victory of the season. Holman struck out five batters in 2.2 shutout innings for his fourth save of 2021.
 
Hamilton was 2-for-4 with three RBI in game two while Mow was a perfect 2-for-2 with one run and one RBI in addition to being hit by two pitches. Trueman and Brown also had one hit and one walk apiece with Brown chipping in one base.
 
Nick Kuhn (0-7) gave up five runs over four innings in the loss for IUP. Jayson Wilbur and Austin Vigliotti did not allow a run in a combined two innings pitched.
 
Prior to Friday's games, Slippery Rock's 2021 senior class of Kyle Bowser, Corey Burkes, Vince Donato, Joseph Dombrowski and Andrew Shivak were recognized for the contributions to the program as part of Senior Day.
 
Slippery Rock will look to continue its push towards the postseason when it travels to Indiana for a doubleheader Saturday. 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) and Instagram (RockAthletics).