SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division play Friday with a doubleheader split against Pitt-Johnstown at Jack Crtichfield Park.
 
After losing the opener, 2-1, SRU salvaged the day with a 5-2 victory in game two. Friday's split moves The Rock's record to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in league games while the Mountain Cats exit Slippery Rock at 9-10 overall and 1-1 inside the PSAC West.
 
Michael Kitko recorded a pair of multi-hit games over the doubleheader, going a combined 4-for-6 at the plate with two RBI. Kitko also pitched two scoreless innings in game two for his second save of the season.
 
Kitko has had at least two hits in four of his last five games played.  
 
After pitching 5.2 innings and giving up just two runs on the mound in the opener, Gage Gillott closed his afternoon with a 2-for-3, two-RBI, one-run, one-double performance in game two. Gillott has now hit safely in eight straight games.

GAME ONE: UPJ 2 – SRU 1
Slippery Rock dropped a close 2-1 outcome in the opener as UPJ starting pitcher Rodney Shultz stranded four SRU runners on base over the final two innings for the win.
 
Game one saw Shultz (1-2) and Gillott (3-1) both work in and out of trouble for the majority of the day.
 
Pitt-Johnstown loaded the bases with one out in the second inning only for Gillot to get out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout. In the bottom of the inning, The Rock put runners on second and third with one out via a Cam Panyko Morris walk and an Eddie Morris double only for Shultz to mimic Gillott with a strikeout-groundout combo.
 
SRU and UPJ proceeded to trade runs midway through the game as SRU struck first via a run-scoring single by Kitko which plated Joey Purcell from second in the third. Pitt-Johnstown's fourth inning could have been much worse as UPJ once again loaded the bases only for Gillott to limit the damage with just one run surrendered.  
 
The 1-1 tie held until the sixth inning when the Mountain Cats scored the go-ahead run off a leadoff triple by Devon Boyles and an accompanying sacrifice fly off the bat of Josh Reynolds. Robert Herr came on for Gillott one batter later to record the third out.
 
After a scoreless bottom of the sixth for The Rock, Herr returned to the mound and threw a scoreless frame to send the game into the bottom of the seventh with Pitt-Johnstown clinging to a one-run advantage.
 
Slippery Rock appeared poised to either tie or outright win the game in the seventh after Morris led off the inning with a double followed directly by a Brett Galcik single to put runners on first and third with no outs.
 
However, Shultz recovered from the back-to-back by forcing consecutive pop outs. Following a Purcell walk which loaded the bases, Shultz closed out the game by inducing a game-ending ground out to first base.
 
Kitko and Morris recorded matching 2-for-3 efforts at the plate in game one with Kitko driving in one run and Morris hitting a pair of doubles. Galcik went 1-for-3 while Purcell, Panyko Morris and Braden Olson all reached base via walks.
 
Gillott was the pitcher of record for SRU. He went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and four walks in addition to five strikeouts. Herr tossed 1.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen for The Rock.
 
Shultz earned the complete-game victory by striking out 10 batters and working around five hits and three walks.
 
The Rock and Mountain Cats combined to leave 17 runners on base in game one.

GAME TWO: SRU 5 – UPJ 2
Slippery Rock scored four runs early to take a lead it would never relinquish in a 5-2 victory.
 
SRU tallied eight hits in game two led by the trio of Kitko, Gillott and Robby Barrientos – all of whom went 2-for-3 with Gillott driving in two runs and Kitko picking up an RBI of his own.
 
Purcell and Panyko Morris registered hits as well with Purcell, who also walked once, earning his by way of a double.  
 
Starting pitcher Parker Hogge (2-1) battled through early control issues to turn in solid outing in which he went five innings, scattering two runs on two hits and three walks for his second win of the season.
 
Just as he did in The Rock's no-hitter against Saint Anselm on March 17, Kitko came in from the outfield to pitch the final two innings Friday in shutout fashion en route to the save.
 
Hogge and Kitko combined to give up just three hits in game two.
 
With the game tied at 1-1 through one completed inning, Slippery Rock posted three runs in the decisive second inning.
 
Brandon Butler produced the go-ahead run on an RBI-groundout with Barrientos on third base and Braden Olson on second leading to Gillott driving a bases-clearing double to make it a 4-1 game. The three-run advantage turned out to be more than enough for Hogge and Kitko.
 
Hogge gave up just one additional run over his final three innings before turning the game over to Kitko who stymied the Mountain Cats bats the rest of the way in addition to driving in The Rock's final run of the afternoon thanks to an RBI-single in the fifth on the way to a 5-2 SRU victory.  
 
Ben Tomb (2-3) took the loss for Pitt-Johnstown after giving up five runs, three of which were earned, on eight hits and one walk in six innings.
 
The Rock and Mountain Cats finish their four-game PSAC West series with a doubleheader Saturday at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Game one of the doubleheader is set for 2 p.m.




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