WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Slippery Rock University softball team opened its time in Winter Haven, Florida Sunday by splitting a pair of contests on day one of The Spring Games.
 
SRU (4-6) picked up a 1-0 game one victory over Le Moyne College (3-5), but fell 7-1 to Bentley University (3-4) in game two.
 
Sophomore Kelsi Anderson (3-2) turned in one of the best performances of her career as she allowed just two hits while striking out seven batters in her fourth career shutout, and second of the 2022 season, against Le Moyne.
 
Julianna Hutchinson tallied two hits and one run over two games to lead The Rock offense while Emma Kennedy concluded the day 1-for-3 with one RBI and Arielle Brown scored one run in game two.
 
GAME ONE: SRU 1 - LMC 0
After a four-inning pitching battle between Anderson and Julia Panarella (1-1), Slippery Rock opened its scoring efforts in the fifth frame to capture the 1-0 victory.
 
With the game tied at 0-0 and Anderson in firm control in the circle, SRU scored its lone run starting with a leadoff single by Hutchinson to left field. She then advanced to second courtesy of a sacrifice bunt by Regan Hozak to give SRU a runner in scoring position with top of the batting order coming up.
 
Erin Gardner finished the rally with a base hit that plated Hutchinson from second, giving The Rock a 1-0 lead. The one run was more than enough support for Anderson who closed out the win by not allowing a single base runner over the final two innings.
 
Anderson took the win after allowing just two hits and striking out seven of 22 batters faced over seven innings of work.
 
Hutchinson led The Rock offense, going 2-for-3 in addition to scoring SRU's only run while Gardner went 1-for-3 with a one-run single. Mackenzie Freeman supplied Slippery Rock with one hit as well while Fisk and Gardner both drew walks.
 
Alyssa Dybacs and Brooke Nicolaos tallied Le Moyne's two hits in the third and fifth innings respectively to lead the Dolphin offense. Panarella took the loss after allowing just one run on four hits while striking out five batters in seven frames.
 
GAME TWO: BU 7 - SRU 1
Brown scored The Rock's lone run in game two on a fourth-inning single by Kennedy before the SRU offense was shut down by Falcons pitcher Elise Pereira (2-1) who struck out seven in a complete-game effort as part of Bentley's 7-1 win.
 
Rock pitcher Chloe Sharman (0-3) was the pitcher of record after allowing four runs, two being earned, in four batters faced.
 
Alexsa Hurd came on for Sharman in the first inning and went on to pitch 6.1 innings, scattering three runs, only one of which was earned, on six hits and a walk. Claire Zimmerman recorded the final two outs of the sixth for SRU.
 
Joining Kennedy as top Rock hitters against Bentley were Hozak and Anna Villies with matching 1-for-3 days. In addition to scoring one run, Brown also reached base twice on a walk and hit by pitch. 
 
The Falcon offense was paced by Jordan Krause who went 4-for-4 with two runs and one RBI as well as Ella Hillier who was 2-for-4 while scoring one run and driving in three.
 
Bentley opened its scoring immediately with four runs in the first frame and tacked on two additional runs through the fourth inning that gave BU a lead it wouldn't relinquish before scoring one insurance run in the seventh to secure its 7-1 victory.
 
SRU avoided the shutout in the fourth inning when Kennedy drove in Brown, who led off the inning by being hit by a pitch, with an RBI-single to centerfield.
 
Slippery Rock continues its remaining eight-game slate at The Spring Games Monday with matchups against Wayne State University at 10 a.m. and Pace University at 12:15 p.m.




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