ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team earned an 8-7 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division victory Tuesday at Mercyhurst University.
 
With one out in the top of eighth inning and the scored tied 7-7, Luke Trueman drove a 3-1 pitch deep over the left field wall to give SRU a one-run lead.
 
Mercyhurst was able to put two runners on base in the bottom of the inning, but Rock reliever Jake Norris (2-0) worked out of the jam by forcing Jayden Walker to groundout to Joey Purcell at first base for the game's final out.
 
The conference victory improves The Rock's record to 11-7 overall and 1-3 in the PSAC West while the Lakers drop to 9-6 overall and 3-1 inside the league following the defeat.
 
Tuesday's game marked the second straight extra-inning contest between the Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst – MU edged SRU 2-1 in 20 innings on March 26.
 
Trueman's late-inning heroics capped off a great day at the plate for the senior in which he went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, one home run and three RBI. The go-ahead home run was his second of the season.
 
Alex Robenolt drove in four runs and hit his fourth home run of the season in the win as well while Jon Kozarian, Koby Bubash and Joseph Ehland all collected two hits with Kozarian scoring twice and Ehland driving in one. Bubash and Ehland both drew walks also as the duo each reached base three times.
 
SRU utilized five pitchers Tuesday. Mark Wilbur made his second start of the season, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks over two innings before giving way to Nate Malak who pitched three innings with two runs surrendered off two hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts.
 
Robert Herr came on for Parker Hogge, and pitched the sixth before Norris took the mound for the seventh and eighth innings to earn his second win of 2023 after not allowing a run while striking out four batters with just one hit and one walk given up.
 
The Rock posted three runs in the first inning courtesy of an RBI-groundout by Robenolt, a bases-clearing two-run double from Trueman and finally a run-scoring single off the bat of Ehland.
 
Mercyhurst got one run back in the bottom of the inning only for SRU to counter with another run in the second as Kozarian, who doubled earlier in the frame, moved to third on a bunt-single by Bubash before scoring on another groundout by Robenolt to make it a 5-1 game.
 
However, MU posted four consecutive runs via two-score frames in the second and fifth to send the contest into the sixth inning tied 5-5.
 
The sixth inning featured more back-and-forth action as Robenolt briefly gave SRU the lead again after slugging a two-run home run only for Mercyhurst to answer back with two runs of its own to once again pull the game into a tie that would ultimately be decided in the eighth courtesy of Trueman's home run.
 
Ben Berdine (0-1) took the loss for Mercyhurst after giving up Trueman's homer. Daniel Thomas got the start for the Lakers and gave up five runs on five hits and two walks over 2.1 innings. Corbin Foy (2.2 IP, 0 runs) and Santino Campoli (0.2 IP, 2 runs) also made appearances out of the Lakers' bullpen prior to Berdine.
 
Luke Jackson had three RBI to pace Mercyhurst's hitters.  
 
Slippery Rock is now scheduled to begin a four-game PSAC West series against Indiana University (Pa.) this weekend with two games Friday at IUP followed by a Saturday doubleheader between the Crimson Hawks and The Rock at Critchfield Park.
 
First pitch on both days is currently scheduled for 1 p.m. Any schedule changes will be announced on RockAthletics.com and all other Slippery Rock official social media sites as information becomes available.




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