GREENSBURG, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team was swept in a road Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader Friday by No. 24 Seton Hill University.
 
After losing the opener, 11-0, Slippery Rock was narrowly edged in a close 3-0 decision by the Griffins in game two.
 
Slippery Rock exits the day with an 18-19 overall record and a 4-14 mark in the PSAC West while the nationally ranked Griffins improve 31-8 overall and 18-0 inside the conference.
 
GAME ONE: SHU 11 - SRU 0
Seton Hill plated runs in each of its six trips to the plate on the way to an 11-0 victory over The Rock in the opener.
 
A home run by Jack Oberdorf in the first inning gave the Griffins a lead they would never relinquish as SHU's offense went on to produce 10 more runs on 12 hits over the remainder of the game while pitcher Jon McCullough (3-0) limited SRU to four hits on the day in his complete-game win.
 
Koby Bubash went 2-for-3 with a double to lead SRU's offense in the opener while Alex Robenolt and Braden Olson both had base hits.
 
Joey Purcell (1-5) was Slippery Rock's game-one starter. He went five innings, giving up eight runs, five of which were earned on 11 hits and a pair of walks while posting three strikeouts.
 
Zach Wilson and Adam Wibert combined to pitch the sixth inning with Wilson recording one out and allowing three runs before Wibert came on to get out of the inning in his Slippery Rock debut.
 
Logan Vietmeier went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI for the Griffins.
 
GAME TWO: SHU 3 – SRU 0
The Rock played Seton Hill much closer in game two, but couldn't quite rally back from an early deficit in a 3-0 game-two loss.
 
Seton Hill got out to an early one-run lead in the second when Owen Sabol led off the inning with a single before advancing to third base on a groundout and accompanying wild pitch, leading to the shortstop scoring on a sacrifice fly by Braden Durham before Parker Hogge registered the final out of the inning.
 
SRU threatened to tie the game in the top of the third as Cam Panyko Morris flipped a leadoff single to right field and later advanced to second on a balk to give SRU a runner in scoring position with no outs. However, Seton Hill pitcher Brandon Bergert got out of the jam with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts to maintain the Griffins one-run lead.
 
Slippery Rock would also put runners on second and third with two outs in the fourth only for Bergert to avoid trouble once again narrowly with an inning-ending strikeout.
 
The Griffins appeared poised to add to their lead in the fifth when they loaded the bases with just one out, but Purcell would make a great play from first base on a bunt to get the force out at home followed by Hogge striking out Oberdorf.
 
However, Seton Hill went on to add a pair insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth before reliever Blake Barker threw a shutout inning of relief in the seventh to close out the three-run win.
 
Slippery Rock recorded four hits in game two via singles from Purcell, Panyko Morris, Noah Ross and Luke Trueman. Robenolt also drew one walk.
 
Hogge (0-2) pitched well in his first collegiate start, going five innings and allowing three runs on four hits and four walks in addition to two strikeouts. Mark Wilbur pitched one inning, allowing two hits after coming on for Hogge with two runners on base and no outs to start the frame.
 
Bergert earned the win for Seton Hill after throwing six shutout innings before giving way to Barker.
 
Slippery Rock and Seton Hill will conclude their four-game conference series with a Sunday doubleheader at Critchfield Park. First pitch of the opener is set for 1 p.m.
 
 


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