CLARION, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University softball team split a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader on the road at Clarion University Friday.
 
Slippery Rock opened the day with a 13-3 six-inning victory before dropping a 5-4 decision over eight innings in game two.
 
The split moves The Rock's record to 12-15-1 overall and 1-5 in league games while Clarion exits the day at 2-25 overall and 1-5 in the PSAC West.
 
SRU was led on the day by Cami Fisk, who went 3-for-7 over the doubleheader with two runs scored, one home run, six RBI and a walk. Fisk has now tallied eight RBI over her last four games.
 
Anna Villies compiled five hits through the two games while Erin Gardner had three hits, two RBI and two runs scored.
 
Arielle Brown and Mackenzie Freeman posted matching stat lines by going 4-for-7 with two runs and one RBI during the two games with Brown accounting for one double and Freeman drawing one walk.
 
Emma Kennedy rounded out SRU's top contributors against Clarion as she tallied two hits, three runs and a pair of walks to go with her second collegiate home run.
 
GAME ONE: SRU 13 – CU 3 (6 innings)
Slippery Rock scored in bunches on the way to a 13-3 six-inning victory to open the day.
 
All nine starting position players collected hits in the opener led by Fisk, who went 2-for-4 with one run, three RBI and a double. Gardner, Villies, Julia Montie and Alexsa Hurd all collected multi-hit games as well with Gardner and Hurd driving in two runs apiece.
 
Brown, Freeman, Kennedy and Regan Hozak each produced hits as well with Kennedy's being her aforementioned home run.
 
Staff ace Kelsi Anderson improved to 7-5 on the season after working around eight hits and three walks that resulted in three runs, only two of which was earned, all the while striking out 11 batters in six innings. Anderson's 11 strikeouts marked her second double-digit strikeout performance of the year.
 
Slippery Rock carried a 5-3 lead into the sixth inning where SRU exploded for eight runs which remarkably enough were all plated with two outs.
 
Gardner and Hurd opened the big inning with RBI-singles. Brown proceeded to score via a Clarion error and two batters later Fisk busted the contest open courtesy of a three-run double. SRU went on to end the frame with a run-scoring double by Montie, who later tallied the final run of the inning by taking home on a passed ball.
 
Anderson promptly finished out the game with three strikeouts in the bottom half of the inning.
 
Clarion used three pitchers in game one. Chelsea Liroff (0-6) took the loss after giving up eight runs in 5.2 innings.
 
GAME TWO: CU 5 – SRU 4 (8 Innings)
Slippery Rock rallied back from an early three-run deficit, but was ultimately unable to close out the comeback, and doubleheader sweep, in a 5-4 extra-inning defeat.  
 
Clarion carried a 3-0 lead into the fourth inning before Fisk launched a game-tying three run shot to left field.
 
The Rock and Golden Eagles went on to trade runs over the remainder of regulation as Clarion tallied a score in the bottom of the fourth with SRU finding another game-tying run in the seventh when Brown took advantage of a Clarion error to score all the way from second.
 
However, Clarion pitcher Kendyl Switzer was able to get out of the inning without allowing further harm to keep the game tied at 4-4.
 
Chloe Sharman (4-4), who entered the game in the fourth for Hurd, countered by striking out two batters in the bottom of the frame before inducing a groundout to send the contest into extra innings.
 
Following a scoreless top of the eighth for The Rock, Hannah Norton led off the bottom of the inning for Clarion with a double before being pinch ran for by Alyssa Stitt, who advanced to third by way of a sacrifice bunt and scored the game-deciding run following a walk-off single by Brooke McCanna.
 
Hurd gave up four runs on three hits and four walks over 3.1 innings before giving way to Sharman, who was the pitcher of record for SRU after giving up one run on two hits in four innings to go with six strikeouts.
 
Brown and Freeman went 3-for-5 and 3-for-4, respectively, with Fisk supplying three RBI via her home run in the fourth inning.  
 
Switzer was the winning pitcher for Clarion. She gave up just one unearned run on three hits in 3.1 innings of in relief of starter Ashley DeWeese.
 
Slippery Rock's scheduled doubleheader against California University (Pa.), which was to be played Saturday, has been postponed due to predicted weather in the area.
 
SRU is currently slated to return to action April 19 in a non-conference doubleheader at Fairmont State University. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
 
 
 
 
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