SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team picked up its first home-opening doubleheader sweep since 2011 Thursday with a pair of non-conference wins against Lock Haven University at the SRU Softball Complex.
SRU took game one, 3-1, before completing the sweep over the Bald Eagles with a 4-3 win in game two. With the sweep, The Rock improves their record to 8-10 overall while LHU falls to 8-7.
Slippery Rock's offensive leaders through two games included
Mackenzie Freeman who tallied her sixth home run of the season in addition to driving in three runs and scoring twice over the doubleheader. Freeman's six home runs are already the most by a Rock softball player since Adeline Nicholson also hit six in 2019.
Alexsa Hurd was the hero of game two with a walkoff RBI-single.
Anna Villies (3-for-4),
Erin Gardner (3-for-7) and
Emma Kennedy (2-for-6) all had hits in both games of the doubleheader Thursday with Villies and Kennedy also driving in runs.
GAME ONE: SRU 3 – LHU 1
Lock Haven scored first to take an early one-run lead over SRU before The Rock began their scoring efforts in the bottom of the sixth frame in fine fashion with Freeman's three-run blast en route to a 3-1 victory.
Starting pitcher
Kelsi Anderson (5-3) held off the Bald Eagle offense by striking out four batters through the first two frames before a one-run single by Delaney Good put Lock Haven on the scoreboard first in the third inning.
Lock Haven seemed in firm control after a five-inning shutout by LHU pitcher Madison Waltman (6-2). However, Slippery Rock rallied in the sixth as Villies and Gardner led off the inning with back-to-back singles before
Arielle Brown reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on first and second with Freeman coming to the plate.
On the fourth pitch of her at-bat, Freeman turned on a ball and belted a home run that easily cleared the left field wall to give SRU a 3-1 lead it would never relinquish as Anderson closed out the win pitching a perfect seventh inning.
Anderson took the win after allowing just one run on six hits while striking out nine batters and walking only in a complete game effort, her sixth such of the year.
The Rock's game one offense was paced by Freeman who went 1-for-3 in addition to having three RBI and one run scored courtesy of the game-winning home run. Gardner and Brown both scored runs as well while Gardner, Villies, Kennedy and
Cami Fisk had one hit apiece.
Waltman was the pitcher of record for Lock Haven after allowing three runs on five hits while also striking out four batters and walking just one over six innings of work.
GAME TWO: SRU 4 – LHU 3
Slippery Rock led for six straight innings and held a two-run advantage over Lock Haven entering the seventh frame before the Bald Eagles rallied back to tie the contest. However, The Rock preserved and earned home sweep in a 4-3 walkoff win.
Slippery Rock struck first after 3.5 scoreless innings by both teams, via one-run singles from Kennedy, Villies and
Julia Montie in the fourth frame to give The Rock a 3-0 lead.
The Bald Eagles opened their attempted comeback campaign with an RBI-single of their own in the fifth. LHU then tacked on two additional runs in the seventh with a one-run homer and a game-tying run on a sacrifice fly before reliever
Chloe Sharman could get out of the jam with the game knotted at 3-3.
Undeterred, Slippery Rock promptly put its first three batters of the inning on base in the bottom of the inning to bring Hurd, who had started the game in the circle, to the plate. Hurd, a freshman, calmly stepped in the box and drove a single deep to straightaway center that easily scored Villies from third base, sealing the 4-3 win as well as the doubleheader sweep of Lock Haven.
In addition to her heroics at the plate, Hurd allowed just two runs on five hits in the circle all the while striking out two batters and walking four over 6.1 innings pitched before giving way to Sharman (2-3) who picked up the win after allowing one run on one hit and a walk in 0.2 innings of relief work.
The Rock's offensive efforts were also led by Hurd who went 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run scored while reaching base twice via walks. Villies was 2-for-3 with one RBI and scoring the game-winning run.
Rounding out the leaders were Kennedy and Montie who each had one hit and one RBI with Kennedy also scoring once.
Jada Schellhammer (0-3) took the loss after allowing one unearned run on four hits and one walk to go with one strikeout
Slippery Rock is back in action March 29 with a home non-conference doubleheader against Mercyhurst University. First pitch of game one against the Lakers is set for 2:30 p.m. at the SRU Softball Complex.
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