WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. - The No. 22 Slippery Rock University baseball team earned a doubleheader sweep on the road against West Liberty University Wednesday.
 
SRU took game one from the Hilltoppers, 11-0, before closing out the sweep with another shutout, this one of the 7-0 variety, in game two. The non-conference victories improve Slippery Rock's record to 13-3 overall while West Liberty falls to 4-19 following the losses.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock used eight pitchers over the doubleheader and gave up just six hits.  
 
Offensively, the trio of Abraham Mow, Jon Kozarian and Alex Robenolt all had multiple hits over the doubleheader.
 
Mow went 4-for-6 over the two games with four runs scored, a walk and a double. Kozarian was 4-for-7 with three runs, two RBI and a pair of walks. Robenolt had five RBI and three hits in the games.
 
GAME ONE: SRU 11 - WLU 0
Slippery Rock totaled 14 hits while four SRU pitchers combined for a four-hit shutout as The Rock cruised to a 11-0 victory in game one.
 
Ethan Edkins (1-0) made his first collegiate start on the mound and did not allow a hit while striking out three batters over two innings before giving way to Drew Delaney, who came on for in the third and went on toss a pair of scoreless frames of his own.
 
Robert Herr replaced Delaney in the fifth for what was his first pitching appearance at SRU. Herr tallied three strikeouts while giving up two hits prior to Christian Seelhorst coming on in the seventh and throwing a flawless inning to close out the win.
 
Eight different batters tallied hits for SRU, five of which logged multi-hit days including Connor Hamilton who led the way with 3-for-4, two-run, three-RBI, one-walk showing.
 
Mow, Kozarian, Robenolt and Joe Ehland had two hits apiece with Robenolt and Ehland driving in two runs each and Kozarian also drawing a pair of walks.
 
Evan Knaus, Luke Trueman and Anthony Cinicola rounded out the top performances with hits as well. In addition to drawing three walks, Trueman matched Mow, Kozarian and Hamilton for game-high honors in runs scored at two each.
 
Slippery Rock struck early with four runs in the first inning as SRU opened the contest with four straight hits highlighted by back-to-back run-scoring hits from Robenolt and Hamilton followed later in the inning by an additional two runs on wild pitches to set the tone early.
 
SRU added to its lead two innings later with four more runs first with an RBI-double from Ehland and later courtesy of a bases loaded walk by Kozarian and capped off by a two-run single from Hamilton.
 
The Rock went on to add final runs in the sixth by way of another RBI from Ehland followed by a run-scoring single off the bat of Robenolt in the seventh with a final score coming by way of a another bases-loaded walk, this time with Braden Olson at the plate.
 
Gaetan Sinisgalli gave up four runs in a third of an inning in the loss for West Liberty.
 
GAME TWO: SRU 7 – WLU 0
Slippery Rock's pitchers were once again virtually unhittable in game two as four Rock hurlers combined to allow just two hits to spur on a 7-0 sweep-clinching shutout over the Hilltoppers.
 
In his first start since March 8, 2020, Tanner Esposito (1-0) struck out three batters while giving up just two runs to register the win. Freshman Eoin Rossman was dominant in his first collegiate game in relief of Esposito as the Beaverdam, Virginia native posted nine strikeouts while walking just two batters and not giving up a hit in three innings.
 
Veterans JT Wolke and Colby Anderson finished out the day on the mound as each reliever tossed scoreless innings with Wolke giving up only one hit.
 
The duo of Robenolt and Koby Bubash combined to drive in six of The Rock's seven runs in game two. Bubash was particularly sharp as the second baseman went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, three RBI all the while hitting his first career home run.
 
Mow and Kozarian both produced two-hit contests as well with Kozarian driving in one run and Mow connecting for a double. Herr and Noah Ross each added hits as well, with Herr's coming by way of double. Hamilton also reached base twice on a pair of walks.
 
SRU once again found success early as The Rock loaded the bases before scoring the game's first run on an RBI-groundout by Robenolt.
 
Bubash pushed The Rock's lead out to 4-0 in the fourth inning when he belted a three-run home run, the first of his career. Slippery Rock proceeded to add insurance runs in the sixth on an infield RBI-single by Kozarian and finally a two-run hit by Robenolt to cap off SRU's scoring efforts for the day.
 
West Liberty used four pitchers as well in game two. Carson Hurst (0-1) was the pitcher of record West Liberty after giving up four runs on five hits and two walks over four innings.
 
Slippery Rock returns to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition with a four-game series this weekend against California University (Pa.).
 
Currently, SRU is scheduled to host the Vulcans for a doubleheader Friday at Jack Critchfield Park before The Rock and Cal U head to Wild Things Park in Washington, Pennsylvania for two games Saturday. First pitch of game one on both days is set for 1 p.m. 






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