INDIANA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team swept Indiana University (Pa.) in its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division series of the year on the road Tuesday.
 
The Rock took game one, 7-3, before completing the sweep over the Crimson Hawks with an 8-0 shutout in game two. Slippery Rock improves to 11-9 overall and 2-0 in league games following the road sweep while IUP drop to 9-10 overall and 0-2 in the PSAC West.
 
SRU's pitching combination of Kelsi Anderson (8-1) and Alexsa Hurd (2-1) posted dominant performances allowing only three total hits over two games leading to the doubleheader sweep of the Crimson Hawks.
 
Slippery Rock was also led on the day offensively by Hurd who posted an explosive showing from the batter's box going 5-for-7 with four runs scored, two home runs and eight RBI over the doubleheader. Hurd exits the day with a team-high four home runs so far in 2023.
 
Freshman Alyssa Sheely had a strong showing through two games and went 3-for-7 with two RBI and one run scored.
 
GAME ONE: SRU 7 – IUP 3
Hurd and Julia Montie each belted one home run apiece while Anderson pitched a complete-game two-hitter that led The Rock to a 7-3 victory over the Crimson Hawks.
 
Anderson earned the win after allowing only two hits and three runs over her third complete game win of the season while striking out 10 batters and working around eight walks.
 
Slippery Rock parlayed a 10-hit, seven-run showing with Montie, Sheely and Arielle Brown all going 2-for-4 while Hurd, Cami Fisk, Erin Gardner and Emma Kennedy tallied SRU's remaining hits with one each.
 
Hurd led the offense with a two-run home run in addition to three runs scored while Fisk, Montie and Sheely each drove in one batter apiece with Montie's coming on her first homer of the year. Garnder scored two runs over game one and Kennedy and Montie each tacked on run each.
 
Slippery Rock got the scoring started immediately when Hurd homered to score herself and Gardner who reached base via a double earlier in the inning to give The Rock a 2-0 lead.
 
SRU and IUP each scored three total runs apiece over the third and fourth frames with The Rock plating runners on a Fisk RBI-single, Hurd taking home via a wild pitch and Montie's solo home run to enter the fifth inning with Slippery Rock leading 5-3.
 
Any thought of a late-game rally by the Crimson Hawks was dashed when Anderson and The Rock's defense registered the last nine outs of the game after facing only 12 batters on the way to a 7-3 win.
 
Meghan Grill led the Indiana offense going 1-for-3 with one run scored while Bella Bucy was the pitcher of record after allowing five runs on five hits over three innings pitched.
 
GAME TWO: SRU 8 – IUP 0
Hurd drove in six of Slippery Rock's eight runs while becoming the first Rock pitcher to throw a complete-game one-hitter since Camie Shumaker did so in 2019 against California (Pa.) as SRU finished off the sweep with an 8-0 win in game two.
 
Hurd had a career performance from both the batter's box and the circle as she went 4-for-4 with one run scored, one home run and six RBI, which is tied for the third-highest single-game total inside the program since 2003.
 
In the circle, Hurd earned her second complete-game victory of the season after allowing only two hits and striking out nine IUP batters with four walks.
 
Rounding out The Rock's game two leaders was Kennedy who went 2-for-3 with one run scored and Sheely who hit 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
 
With Hurd in firm control of the circle, Slippery Rock's bats came alive first with a three-RBI double by Hurd in the third frame.

SRU scattered five additional runs over the final three innings that saw Sheely hit an RBI-single before scoring on a wild pitch and was capped off by a two-run homer from Hurd to seal an 8-0 Rock victory.
 
Tori Long took the loss after surrendering six runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings of work while Grill tallied IUP's lone hit of the game.
 
Slippery Rock continues conference competition with its home-opening doubleheader against Clarion Wednesday at Kasnevich Field. First pitch of game one is set for 2 p.m.






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