JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The No. 18 Slippery Rock University baseball team finished off its four-game Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division series against Pitt-Johnstown Saturday with a doubleheader split on the road.
 
SRU dropped the opener, 3-2, before salvaging the day with a 7-5 win in game two. All told, Slippery Rock and Pitt-Johnstown evenly split the four-game weekend series with two wins apiece.
 
The Rock exits the weekend at 30-11 overall and 15-9 in the PSAC West while Pitt-Johnstown heads into its final games of the year with an overall record of 18-24-1 and a league mark of 6-18. With a minimum of five games remaining in 2022, SRU's 30 wins are tied for the most victories in a single-season dating back to 2014 (nine years).
 
GAME ONE: UPJ 3 – SRU 2
Pitt-Johnstown pitcher Ben Briggs was able to work around nine Slippery Rock hits as SRU stranded seven runners on base in a tight 3-2 UPJ win in game one.
 
The Rock and Mountain Cats traded runs over the opening two innings before Pitt-Johnstown produced one-run frames in the fourth and sixth to take 3-1 lead into the seventh inning.
 
Koby Bubash, who drove in The Rock's first run of the day, began SRU's comeback bid in the seventh with a leadoff single before eventually scoring on a two-out base hit by Jon Kozarian.
 
However, the rally ended there as Pitt-Johnstown reliever Grayson Hall came into the game for Briggs following Kozarian's RBI and was able induce a game-ending groundout to help the Mountain Cats escape with a tight 3-2 win.
 
Rock starting pitcher Ricky Mineo (5-2) was solid on the day, scattering three runs on four hits and a walk over six innings while striking out eight batters.
 
Bubash was one of three Rock hitters with two hits in the opener, going 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Luke Trueman also went 2-for-3 with one run and a double while Abraham Mow was 2-for-4.
 
Kozarian, Alex Robenolt and Connor Hamilton had one hit apiece with Kozarian driving in one run and stealing a base as well.
 
 
Briggs (3-4) gave up two runs in 6.2 innings in the win while Hall earned the save after recording the game's final out.
 
GAME TWO: SRU 7 – UPJ 5
Andy McClymonds (4-3) came out of the bullpen to provide The Rock with four innings of clutch relief pitching while Trueman had a hand in two seventh-inning runs as Slippery Rock earned the doubleheader split with a 7-5 victory in game two.
 
With the game tied 5-5 following a two-run home run by UPJ's Tyler Smith, McClymonds came on for starting pitcher Ethan Edkins with no outs in the fourth inning and proceeded to silence the Mountain Cats' bats as the veteran hurler went to hold UPJ scoreless over the remainder of the game to put SRU in position to grab the win.
 
The contest remained even heading into the seventh where Joel Spishock led off the final inning with a triple before scoring the go-ahead run one batter later courtesy of an RBI-double from Trueman, who later took third base thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Bubash before eventually scoring on a wild pitch to send SRU into the bottom of the frame ahead 7-5.
 
McClymonds then closed out the game by successfully working around a one-out double by forcing Lennox Pugh to groundout and Asher Corl to flyout, securing the two-run victory.
 
All told, McClymonds picked up the victory after scattering four hits and a pair of walks over four shutout innings. McClymonds has now allowed just one run in his last five appearances.
 
Spishock went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, a triple and a home run. Robenolt and Eddie Morris each collected three hits and one run scored in game two with Morris also posting an RBI.
 
Bubash and Kozarian had two hits as well with Bubash also adding one run and one stolen base Hamilton walked three times and had one RBI.
 
Edkins pitched three innings, giving up five runs on five hits and a walk over three innings in a no-decision start.
 
Pitt-Johnstown used six pitchers in the game with Jared Hoener (1-1) taking the loss after giving up one run in a third of an inning.
 
Slippery Rock will play a final non-conference game 3 p.m. May 2 when it travels to Walsh University for a nine-inning game. The Rock and Cavaliers split a doubleheader at SRU earlier in the season.
 
 
 
 


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