SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team lost a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division games to Indiana University (Pa.) Sunday at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
SRU suffered a 5-0 loss in the opener followed by a 6-0 setback in game two. The sweep drops The Rock's record to 11-9 overall and 1-5 in the PSAC West while the Crimson Hawks improve to 11-13 overall and 5-1 inside the conference.
 
Hits were hard to come by all day for Slippery Rock as Indiana pitchers Jeremiah Williams, Paul Tripi and Mark Edeburn tossed back-to-back shutouts while combining to limit SRU to six total hits.
 
Koby Bubash had hits in each game while Alex Robenolt registered a double and single in game one to pace SRU's offense Sunday.
 
GAME ONE: IUP 6 – SRU 0
Indiana scored two runs in three separate innings while Williams (1-3) posted nine strikeouts in a solid road start on the way to 6-0 Crimson Hawk win in the opener.
 
Williams and Slippery Rock starter Devin Dunn (2-2) traded shutout innings over the opening three frames before IUP broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning via a two-run single by Andrew Sicinski. The Crimson Hawks added two unearned runs in the fifth courtesy of another two-RBI base hit by Harrison Pontoli.
 
The Rock's best chance at a run in the opener came in the sixth inning as Bubash and Joey Purcell each registered base hits followed later in the inning by a Robenolt walk. However, Paul Tripi, who came on for Williams after Purcell's single, was able to induce an inning-ending groundout to get out of the jam and maintain Indiana's 4-0 lead.
 
The Crimson Hawks went on to take advantage of a pair of SRU errors to tack on two more runs in the seventh while Tripi forced three consecutive fly outs in the bottom of the inning to close out the win.
 
Robenolt went 2-for-2 with a double and a walk to lead Slippery Rock in the opener while Purcell and Bubash both went 1-for-3.
 
Dunn was the pitcher of record for Slippery Rock as he was charged with all six runs, only two of which were earned, on five hits and one walk while striking out four. Jake Norris came on for Dunn in the seventh to record three outs with one hit surrendered and one strikeout.
 
GAME TWO: IUP 5 – SRU 0
Slippery Rock was unable to find its stride at the plate as Indiana closed out the sweep with a 5-0 win in game two.
 
Reminiscent of game one, Offense was again at a premium in the nightcap with Purcell and Mark Edeburn each throwing four shutout innings to send the contest into the fifth inning in another scoreless tie.
 
The fifth inning proved to be The Rock's undoing. The frame started with Purcell registering two quick outs only for IUP to load the bases with a single and back-to-back walks which forced Purcell from the game in favor of reliever Tanner Esposito.
 
Indiana's Markus Cestra then delivered a two-run single off Esposito, who was able to limit the damage by getting the inning's final out following Cestra's hit. However, IUP tallied three more insurance runs in the sixth to take a five-run lead The Rock could never threaten in the eventual defeat.
 
Bubash went 1-for-3 in game two with the hit coming in the form of a triple, his second of the season. Braden Olson collected SRU's second hit with a single as part of a 1-for-2 performance.
 
Purcell (0-3) went 4.2 innings with two runs allowed on three hits and five walks. Esposito pitched 0.2 innings, surrendering two runs as well before giving way to Robert Herr who also went 0.2 innings with one run charged to him.
 
Parker Hogge threw a shutout seventh inning as the final pitcher out of SRU's bullpen.
 
Edeburn improved to 4-0 following his complete-game two-hitter. Davin Landers went 2-for-3 with one run, one home run and two RBI in game two for Indiana.
 
Slippery Rock and Indiana will finish out their four-game conference series with a doubleheader Monday at IUP. First pitch of game one is set for 1 p.m.




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