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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team travels to West Virginia Wednesday for a non-conference doubleheader against West Liberty University. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Hilltopper Softball Complex.
 
WEST LIBERTY SERIES DETAILS
Opponent: West Liberty University  
Date: March 30 – 3 p.m. / 5 p.m.
Location: Hilltopper Softball Complex – West Liberty, West Virginia
Live Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: SRU leads 3-2
Last Played: April 6, 2011 (Rock split series L 5-3 and W 6-1)
 
ALL TIME SERIES
Slippery Rock holds a slight 3-2 lead over the Hilltoppers in the all-time series dating back to 1983. Of the five matchups between the two teams, all three of SRU's wins have come on the road in West Virginia.
 
LAST PLAYED
The Rock most recently met with West Liberty April 6, 2011 for a doubleheader on the road. Slippery Rock split the series with WLU with a 5-3 loss in game one followed by a 6-1 win in game two.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
Overall Record: 8-10
Home Record: 2-0
Away Record: 3-1
Neutral Record: 3-9
Streak: W3
Head Coach: Stacey Rice | Eighth season at SRU (121-165)
 
SCOUTING THE ROCK
LAST TIME OUT: The Rock made their home debut in fine fashion with their first home-opening sweep of a team since the 2011 season, beating Lock Haven University 3-1 and 4-3 on March 24.
 
SOPHOMORE SUCCESS: The duo of pitcher Kelsi Anderson (5-3, 3.41 ERA) and designated player Mackenzie Freeman have compiled solid sophomore campaigns so far this season.
 
Anderson, a two-time PSAC West Pitcher of the Week, has made 10 starts in the circle for SRU. In a rotation-high 53.1 inning pitched, Anderson has struck out the third most batters in the conference with 55. Anderson has also earned three complete-game victories with two being shutouts.
 
In 16 starts, Freeman has now belted six home runs ranking her third in the PSAC in addition to driving in the second most RBI in the conference at 24. Freeman bats .283 with a team-high .660 slugging percentage and on the season is hitting .500 with runners in scoring position.
 
ROUNDING OUT THE ROCK OFFENSE: Starters of all 18 games for SRU, Erin Gardner and Arielle Brown both bat above .280 at .322 and .281 respectively. Gardner has drove in three RBI on her team-high 19 hits. Brown has scored a team-leading 14 runs in addition to driving in one run on 16 hits.
 
Emma Kennedy is third for The Rock in RBI with five behind Freeman and Julia Nutter (6) while Gardner, Fisk, Anna Villies and Julia Montie have all drove in three RBI this season.
 
Kennedy and Montie are the remaining SRU players to have hit home runs this year, with Montie totaling two and Kennedy one.
 
A LOOK AT THE PITCHING STAFF: In addition to Anderson, three other Rock pitchers have seen significant time in the circle this year.
 
Chloe Sharman (2-3, 4.38 ERA) in five starts and five relief appearances, has struck out 18 batters over 30.1 innings of work and opponents are hitting just .241 off of her.
 
Alexsa Hurd (0-3, 1 save, 3.38 ERA) in 29 innings pitched has struck out 17 batters with a .243 opponent batting average.
 
Rounding out the staff is Claire Zimmerman (1-1, 2.74 ERA) who in six relief appearances and 7.2 innings has struck out five batters and allowed five runs with just three being earned.
 
SRU RECORD BOOKS: Multiple Rock softball member are making their mark throughout the SRU career record books in Anderson, Freeman, Sharman and head coach Stacey Rice.
 
For her career, Anderson is tied for 12th in strikeouts (154), 12th in shutouts (4), 18th in innings pitched (163) and 19th in wins (11).
 
In only 18 games in 2022, Freeman is already just one home run away from moving into a tie for 15th place on The Rock's single-season home run ledger and two RBI away from cracking SRU's single-season top-20 ranking in that category as well.
 
For her career, Sharman is eighth in strikeouts (167), 13th in innings pitched (242.2) and 18th in wins (12).
 
With 26 games remaining this season, Head coach Rice is just seven wins away from passing Jan Kasnevich (1977-86) and becoming the second winningest coach in program history.  
 
SEEING DOUBLE: Multiple Rock players have hit at least two doubles this season with Fisk leading the way with four followed by Gardner with three and Freeman, Villies, Kennedy and Regan Hozak each with two.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: Slippery Rock heads to West Liberty with a 3-1 record in true away contests. The Rock last ended the season with a winning record on the road in 2019 but had not done so since 2008 prior to that.
 
WIN COLUMN: SRU is two wins away from being .500 (10-20) this season. A sweep of the Hilltoppers would be the first season in which The Rock won 10 of their first 20 games since 2018. Additionally, two wins would prompt a five-game winning streak, which would be the longest since 2018 as well.
 
WEST LIBERTY PRIMER
Season Stats: Link
Overall Record: 16-10
MEC Record: 6-2
Home Record: 4-0
Away Record: 7-7
Neutral Record: 5-3
Streak: WL1
Head Coach: Herb Minch | 24th season at WLU (529-554-2)
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
Last Time Out: West Liberty split a Mountain East Conference doubleheader in a 6-0 win and 5-3 loss against the University of Charleston at home Monday.
 
WLU is paced on offense by Annie Paterson and Katie Beeman. Patterson bats .460 and has belted five home runs this season in addition to driving in 21 RBI, scoring 17 runs and hitting 10 doubles. Beeman bats .337 and has 18 RBI, 13 runs scored and nine doubles this season.
 
The Hilltoppers pitching staff features a balanced effort between four players. Leading the way is Mackenzie Amend (6-3, 2.36 ERA) who in 49.2 innings pitched has struck out a rotation-high 87 batters while opponents are hitting just .169 off of her.
 
As a team West Liberty is batting .291 and scoring 5.26 runs per contest. The Hilltopper pitching staff has a 3.12 ERA and surrenders 2.81 runs per game.
 
UP NEXT
The Rock returns home to the SRU Softball Complex for back-to-back doubleheaders Friday against Clarion University (2:30 p.m. / 4:30 p.m.) and Saturday versus Gannon University (1 p.m. / 3 p.m.).



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