LEESBURG, Fla. –The Slippery Rock University Softball team split a pair of contests Sunday at The Spring Games with a win over St. Thomas Aquinas College and loss to Bloomfield College.
 
The Rock (3-7) earned a 3-0 shutout victory over the Spartans (3-2) in game one before suffering a 5-3 game-two loss to the Bears (2-13). SRU's shutout of St. Thomas Aquinas was its first of the season.
 
Following a dominant performance by starter Kelsi Anderson, Chloe Sharman recorded her second consecutive save of the trip in SRU's win over STAC in game one and has advanced to first in program history in career saves with six.
 
The Rock were led on the day by Aubrey Mansfield who was 3-for-6 with two runs scored and one RBI as well as Arielle Brown who went 3-for-8 with two runs and one RBI.
 
GAME ONE: SRU 3 – STAC 0
The Rock parlayed three runs over the second and third inning to take an advantage it would never relinquish as Kelsi Anderson (3-1) and Sharman combined to throw a one-hit shutout in SRU's 3-0 win.
 
Anderson, the game one starting pitcher, took the win after allowing no runs and striking out six batters over six innings before giving way to Sharman, who picked up her program record breaking sixth career save over the win after maintaining the shutout through the final inning.
 
In what was one of her best outings of the season, Anderson did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and allowed just one runner into scoring position for the duration of her appearance.
 
Alexsa Hurd, Cami Fisk, Regan Hozak and Anna Villies each ended the contest with two hits apiece for SRU. Hurd, Fisk and Emma Kennedy all registered one RBI each while Hurd tacked on one run scored. Brown and Mansfield also scored one run apiece for The Rock.
 
The Rock opened the scoring early when Kennedy drove home Mansfield who reached base from her third double of the season earlier in the second inning.
 
SRU followed up the game's first run with two additional ones in a third frame that saw Hurd plate Brown after leading off the order with a single. Fisk followed with an RBI-single of her own before the Spartans could get out of the inning with The Rock holding a 3-0 advantage.
 
That would prove to be all the support Anderson and Sharman needed, as the duo went on to retire 12 of the final 16 batters they faced to secure the 3-0 win.
 
STAC seemed poised to break the game open late when it loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. However, Sharman bounced back by forcing the game ending flyout to left field to preserve the win.
 
Sarah Williams led the St. Thomas Aquinas offense with the team's lone hit of the game while Eliana Raposo took the loss after allowing three runs on six hits over 2.1 innings pitched.
 
GAME TWO: BC 5 – SRU 3
Slippery Rock claimed a one-run advantage at the end of the fourth inning but a sixth frame rally by Bloomfield secured a 5-3 comeback win for the Bears.
 
The Rock started their scoring efforts in the first inning when Brown led off with a single before advancing to second by Hurd on a ground-out and was brought home via an RBI-single through the left side by Mansfield.
 
After a scoreless second inning for both teams, SRU extended its advantage to 2-0 in the third frame when Mansfield was plated courtesy of a single by Grace Smith to earn her first collegiate RBI.
 
SRU and BC played an even fourth inning, each scoring one run as Starra Murphy's RBI-single for the Bears dampened any hope of a Rock shutout and Brown's RBI-double kept Slippery Rock ahead 3-1.
 
After another empty inning for both lineups through the fifth frame, the Bloomfield bats came alive as they rallied with four runs off of three hits to take their first lead of the game that would never relinquish en route to a 5-3 Bears victory.
 
Brown and Mansfield paced the SRU offense as they both went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored while Smith rounded out the leaders going 1-for-3 with one RBI.
 
Claire Zimmerman (0-5) was credited with the loss after allowing two runs on one hit in addition to striking out one batter over two innings pitched. Hurd received a no-decision after allowing three runs on four hits with four strikeouts over the opening five innings.
 
Murphy led Bloomfield as she went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one run scored and Danielle Walters took the win for the Bears in the circle after allowing three runs on 11 hits in a complete game effort with three strikeouts.
 
Slippery Rock continues its time at The Spring Games with a pair of contests against American International College and Molloy University Monday. First pitch of game one is set for 9 a.m. in Leesburg, Florida.




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