WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Slippery Rock University softball team posted a dramatic 2-1 win versus the University of New Haven in extra innings before Mackenzie Borkovich pitched the first shutout of her career to lift The Rock to a 4-0 victory over American International College Thursday in Florida.
 
Winners of four straight games, The Rock improves their overall record to 7-10. New Haven moved to 1-6 following the loss while AIC dropped to 3-3.
 
Borkovich (3-2) saw 32 batters in the 8.2 innings pitched between the two games, recording seven strikeouts and limiting the opposition to just three hits. She joined Kelsi Anderson (2-4) in the circle, who had an impressive 6.1 innings that included nine of the 27 batters faced being struck out.
 
Offensively, SRU needed just 10 total hits with five coming in each game. Julia Nutter went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI while Alyssa Sheely had a 3-for-6 showing that featured a double.
 
Aubrey Mansfield's first hit of the day came in her final at-bat, resulting in a two-run RBI-single. Grace Smith also recorded and RBI, batting 2-for-8 in total.
 
Sheely scored two runs on the day matching Naomi Childs, who also had a pair. Arielle Brown and Julia Montie, who added a double, each tallied one run as well.
 
GAME ONE – Slippery Rock 2, New Haven 1 (8 innings)
Slippery Rock prevailed in a true pitchers' duel that saw both teams first get on the board in the seventh inning before The Rock earned the 2-1 victory in the eighth frame.
 
Both teams were held without a run through the opening six innings, with Anderson striking out nine of the 27 batters faced. The Chargers were finally able to add a run to the board early in the seventh to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Borkovich came into the game at that point to relieve Anderson, who had thrown 121 pitches. The Rock were able to retire the side, needing a run to equalize in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Nutter knocked in the RBI-single that brought Montie home to level the score at 1-1, but New Haven was able to force extra innings despite bases being loaded.
 
Borkovich's two strikeouts in the game both came as the final two outs in the top of the eighth inning, setting SRU up with a walk-off chance. That opportunity was seized by Smith, who singled to center field to advance Sheely across the plate with the game-winning run and a 2-1 final score.
 
Nutter hit 2-for-2 in the game with an RBI, leading Slippery Rock from the batter's box. Smith's RBI came in a 1-for-4 effort, while Montie and Sheely both batted 1-for-3.
 
Anderson's nine-strikeout day came in just 6.1 innings and 23 at-bats, allowing only four hits and one run. Borkovich closed out the final 1.2 innings required for victory, tossing two strikeouts and allowing just one hit.
 
GAME TWO – Slippery Rock 4, American International 0
Hot off the extra-innings win to begin the day, Borkovich led Slippery Rock to victory with the first shutout of her career in a 4-0 win over American International. The Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania native faced 26 batters, fanning five while allowing only two hits from the Yellow Jackets.
 
SRU's five hits on the day did not come easy, either, though, with its first hit coming in the third inning via a Sheely double.
 
The Rock opened the scoring with a 1-0 advantage in the fifth inning when Childs advanced to home as Brown stole second.
 
Slippery Rock utilized the top of the seventh for a trio of insurance runs, starting with a two-run RBI-single by Mansfield that sent Childs and Sheely home for a 3-0 lead. After Mansfield stole second, Brown, who was on third base, got across home plate to cushion The Rock with a 4-0 stronghold that held true for the game's final three outs.  
 
Sheely went 2-for-3 at the plate for SRU, bagging a double in the process. Nutter, Mansfield and Smith each tacked on one hit in a game that SRU came away with a 5-2 lead in hits.
 
71 of Borkovich's 106 total pitches were strikes in the shutout effort, walking just one batter in the career-best performance.  
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Slippery Rock will conclude its time at The Spring Games tomorrow by facing off with Purdue University Northwest at 9:15 a.m. before an 11:30 a.m. challenge against Hillsdale College at the DiamondPlex.




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