CLERMONT, Fla. – The Slippery Rock University softball team opened its time at The Spring Games by splitting a pair of contests on day one Saturday with a win over Mercy College and a loss to West Virginia Wesleyan College.
 
SRU (2-6) picked up a 6-2 game one victory over the Mavericks (0-11), but fell 14-2 to the Bobcats (13-6) in its final game of the day.
 
Alexsa Hurd spearheaded The Rock's offensive efforts over two games, going 4-for-6 with five RBI in addition to belting three doubles on the day. Arielle Brown was the remaining Rock player to register a hit in both games as she went 3-for-6 with two runs scored.
 
GAME ONE: SRU 6 – MC 2
Hurd went 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI and Chloe Sharman picked up her first save of the season after eliminating any chance of a late-game rally from Mercy to secure The Rock's 6-2 victory.
 
Despite the Mavericks scoring the first run of the game, Slippery Rock scattered five runs over the third and fourth innings capped off by a two-RBI double by Hurd in the fourth frame to score Brown and Erin Gardner.
 
Mercy added an additional run of its own in the fifth inning, however, The Rock were able to plate an insurance runner at the top of the seventh when Julianna Hutchinson drove in Aubrey Mansfield, who was walked to lead off the inning.
 
Sharman, who came on in relief of starter Kelsi Anderson in the sixth inning, retired all three batters she faced in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 6-2 SRU win.
 
Aiding Hurd in SRU's offensive efforts was Hutchinson, Cami Fisk and Julia Montie who each drove in one RBI on one hit apiece. Gardner scored two runs while Fisk, Brown, Mansfield and Regan Hozak each scored one run.
 
Anderson (2-1) earned the win after striking out three batters and allowing two runs, only one of which was earned, over five innings before giving way to Sharman, who recorded the game's final six outs over two innings of work.
 
Elizabeth Stark led the Maverick offense with one hit and one RBI while starting pitcher Mackayla Secoda was credited with the loss after allowing three runs on four hits over three innings pitched.
 
GAME TWO: WVWC 14 - SRU 2 (6 innings)
West Virginia Wesleyan took an early eight-run lead while on the way to a 14-2 Bobcats victory in six innings.
 
SRU's game two efforts were led by Hurd, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Brown, who ended the contest batting an identical 2-for-3 with one run scored.
 
Claire Zimmerman (0-4) took the loss after allowing eight runs, five of which were earned, on five hits over four innings. Mackenzie Borkovich surrendered six runs on three hits in two innings in relief of Zimmerman.
 
Kaitlyn Rizor and Taylor Swartz paced the Bobcats lineup combining to go 3-for-8 with six RBI and four runs scored. Hannah Hudson in a complete game effort struck out 10 batters while allowing two unearned runs.
 
West Virginia Wesleyan scored eight unanswered runs over the first three frames while Hudson held The Rock without a run over four innings courtesy of five strikeouts before SRU was able to plate its first runs of the contest on a two-RBI double by Hurd.
 
However, the deficit would prove too much to overcome for Slippery Rock as West Virginia Wesleyan added on six additional runs over the sixth inning and Hudson retired the side en route to a 14-2 WVWC win.
 
Slippery Rock moves on to day two of its six-day slate in The Spring Games with contests against St. Thomas Aquinas College and Bloomfield College Sunday. First pitch of game one is set for 9 a.m. at Sleepy Hollow Complex in Leesburg, Florida.






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