QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team saw its historic season come to an end with a pair of one-run losses in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday from Veterans Park in Quakertown.
After
falling 8-7 to Shippensburg in eight innings earlier in the day Thursday, The Rock were eliminated from the tournament with a 4-3 loss to Mercyhurst in the nightcap to end the season with a 29-24 record, marking the most wins in program history. Mercyhurst, which capped a perfect 5-0 season against SRU and was the only team in the PSAC West to sweep The Rock, improves to 33-20 and moves on to Friday's action in the tournament.
Slippery Rock played three one-run games in the tournament, opening with an 11-10 win Wednesday over the No. 1 ranked team in the Atlantic Region, East Stroudsburg, which was the first postseason win for the program since 1983.
The Rock bowed out of the tournament in heartbreaking fashion Thursday, losing in the final inning by one run in both games. SRU took Shippensburg to extra innings in the early game Thursday before losing 8-7 on a walk-off bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth inning. Slippery Rock then took a 3-2 lead over Mercyhurst in the bottom of the sixth inning in its second game of the day, only to see the Lakers score two runs in the top of the seventh to earn a comeback 4-3 win in the elimination game Thursday night.
Slippery Rock scored all three of its runs via home run against Mercyhurst, with
Alexsa Hurd continuing her incredible season with a 2-run homer in the third inning that tied the game at 2-2. That home run marked her second of the tournament and her 13th this season, moving her into solo second place on the single-season ledger at SRU, just one homer shy of the single-season record (14) that is owned by SRU head coach
Stacey Rice.
The third run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning when
Alyssa Sheely stepped to the plate for a pinch-hit appearance that marked her first at bat of the tournament. She sent the first pitch she saw over the center field wall to give Slippery Rock a 3-2 lead heading to the seventh inning needing three outs to lock up a win.
Given the situation,
Chloe Sharman pitched arguably the best game of her career while getting called on to make just her fourth start of the season. She allowed just two runs through the first 6.1 innings of the game before being pulled in the seventh inning after throwing 130 pitches.
Kelsi Anderson came on with two runners on base, both of which belonged to Sharman. Mercyhurst used some heads-up base running to tie the game by sending a runner from third on a groundout to the shortstop for the second out of the inning. The Lakers then plated the go-ahead run with a single to take a 4-3 lead before SRU could get out of the inning.
The Rock had one final chance in the bottom of the seventh, but were retired in order with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout.
Hurd reached base three times, officially going 1-for-1 with two RBI and a pair of walks. Sheely added the other RBI with her solo home run.
Arielle Brown and
Aubrey Mansfield each tallied one hit as SRU was limited to four hits in the game.
Mercyhurst, which scattered eight total hits across seven innings, was led by Jessica Clark with two RBI. Alexa North was credited with the win after coming on in relief and allowing one run in 4.0 innings of work.
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus to the offseason and will enter the 2024 season with much higher expectations and likely a higher position in the PSAC Preseason Poll. The Rock were picked to finish seventh in the Western Division this spring and significantly exceeded that prediction to finish third in the division before going on to make some noise against the top teams in the region during the PSAC Tournament.
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