SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team was swept by Mercyhurst University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader Friday at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
SRU suffered an 8-1 setback in the opener before dropping game two to the Lakers, 5-0. The two losses move The Rock's record to 10-6 overall and 0-2 in the PSAC West while Mercyhurst improves to 8-5 overall and 2-0 in league games.

GAME ONE: MU 8 – SRU 1
Mercyhurst scored eight consecutive runs and Jarrett Heilman took a one-hitter into the sixth inning on the way to an eventual 8-1 Laker victory in game one.
 
SRU closed the game with three hits as Joey Purcell, Alex Robenolt and Noah Ross all tallied singles in the opener with Ross driving in one run. Robenolt, Koby Bubash, who scored The Rock's run, and Robby Barrientos each reached base once via walks as well.
 
Rock starting pitcher Devin Dunn (2-1) took his first loss of the season after giving up three runs on three hits and three walks to go with seven strikeouts over 3.2 innings.
 
Parker Hogge (two innings, five runs, four strikeouts) and Gino Marra (1.1 innings, zero runs, one strikeout) finished the game out of the SRU bullpen.
 
The Rock and Mercyhurst played to a 0-0 tie through two innings before the Lakers were able to score seven runs over the next three innings to break the game open. All seven Mercyhurst runs were scored when there were two outs in their respective half innings.   
 
Luke Jackson capped off Mercyhurst's scoring with a solo home run in the sixth and while SRU was able to avoid the shutout by way of a run-scoring single by Ross in the seventh, it was never able to mount a series comeback in the eventual seven-run loss.
 
Heilman improved to 2-1 in 2023 after striking out eight batters and scattering three hits over the complete-game performance.

GAME TWO: MU 5 – SRU 0
The Rock's normally high-powered offense was unable to rebound from a slow opener as Mercyhurst once again limited SRU to three hits in a 5-0 victory.
 
Luke Trueman led Slippery Rock in game two, going 2-for-3 with a double while Evan Knaus went 1-for-2 with one walk.
 
Purcell (0-2) was the pitcher of record for Slippery Rock after giving up three runs on nine hits and one walk in addition to posting seven strikeouts over five innings.
 
Jake Norris came on for Purcell to pitch the sixth inning with two runs surrendered on three hits and a walk. Tanner Esposito struck out two as part of a scoreless seventh inning in place of Norris.
 
Already leading 1-0, the Lakers took advantage of four hits and one error to score two runs in the third inning to push their lead to three runs.
 
Slippery Rock's best chance at a rally in the nightcap came in the fifth inning as Trueman doubled to lead off the inning followed by a Kanus walk to bring the tying run to the plate.
 
However, Santino Campoli, who came on relief of John Bufford Jr. to start the inning, was able to get out of the jam by forcing three consecutive outs to maintain the shutout.
 
Mercyhurst went on to add two runs in the sixth while Ben Berdine replaced Campoli in the sixth and pitched back-to-back scoreless innings to close out the Lakers' 3-0 win.
 
The Rock and and Lakrers will close out their four-game series with a doubleheader Saturday at Mercyhurst. First pitch of game one is set for 1 p.m.




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