CLARION, Pa. – Alexsa Hurd broke Slippery Rock University's single-game strikeout record by fanning 16 batters in a 10-2 bounceback win for the SRU softball team after falling at Clarion in game one, 12-7.  
 
The Rock's overall record moves to 8-13 while beginning Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division play at 1-1. Clarion was handed its first PSAC West loss of the year in game two, going to 8-12 on the season and 3-1 inside the conference.
 
On top of the historic pitching, Hurd was dominant at the plate, going 5-for-7 with four RBI, a home run and a double. Through both games combined, she was one of four SRU batters with a home run. Aubrey Mansfield followed with a strong 4-for-9 showing that featured three RBI and a home run.
 
Julia Montie went 2-for-5 on the day with a home run and two RBI while Grace Smith recorded the first home run of her career in a 2-for-8 day that also included a triple and three RBI.
 
Emma Kennedy (2-for-4) and Julia Nutter (1-for-5) both drove in a run while Arielle Brown (1-for-6), Paige Parker (1-for-4) and Alyssa Sheely (1-for-4) rounded out the offense for SRU.
 
Hurd (3-4) pitched all seven innings of game two. In addition to her program-best 16 strikeouts on 31 batters faced, she allowed just four hits and one earned run. Hurd tied the school's single-game record last year with 15 strikeouts against Gannon University, a feat Kelsi Anderson has also accomplished on two different occasions in her career.  
 
Mackenzie Borkovich (3-3) fell in game one, pitching 4.2 innings. Borkovich tossed five strikeouts in relief for Anderson (2-5) who pitched one inning. Paige Gresgott (0-1) also faced one batter to close out game one.
 
GAME ONE – Clarion 12, Slippery Rock 7
SRU fell short in game one on the day, 12-7, in a derby that saw teams combine for seven total home runs.
 
Hurd, Mansfield and Montie each contributed home runs for Slippery Rock, combining for six of SRU's seven RBI. Hurd went 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and a double, just a triple shy of the cycle. Mansfield hit 2-for-4 with two RBI while Montie posted a 1-for-2 showing with a pair of RBI.
 
Borkovich dropped to 3-3 on the season after pitching for 4.2 innings and throwing five strikeouts. She relieved Anderson, who pitched the first 1.0 inning while logging the first two strikeouts of the game. Gresgott saw the final batter of the game in the circle for SRU.
 
Slippery Rock found itself with an early 2-0 lead thanks to a Mansfield home run that immediately followed a stand-up double from Hurd in the top of the first inning. Clarion answered with an RBI-single and took advantage of a hit batter while bases were loaded to tie the game at 2-2.
 
A two-run RBI-double gave Clarion its first lead of the day in the second inning. SRU found some footing again in the top of the third when Montie buried The Rock's second homer of the day, scoring an extra run to level the game at 4-4.
 
Two home runs and a wild pitch proved to be the go-ahead score in the bottom of the third for Clarion that granted the Golden Eagles a 7-4 lead and an advantage that was not to be surrendered.
 
SRU chipped back with an RBI-single from Hurd that delivered Brown to the plate in the fifth inning, cutting the deficit to 7-5. However, back-to-back homers in the sixth for Clarion brought that lead to the widest margin of the day at 12-5.
 
Hurd's home run that bagged two runs in the top of the seventh moved the score to 12-7, but The Rock were unable to keep up the output in the five-run loss.
 
In a game that Clarion held a 15-7 hitting tilt in, the Golden Eagles saw four different home run hitters. Emily Buchleitner went 2-for-4 with a home run and a triple, while Alexis Valencia piled up a quartet of singles going 4-for-4. Emma Hipps (7-4) was the winning pitcher, striking out 12 of the 32 batters she faced.
 
GAME TWO – Slippery Rock 10, Clarion 2
Slippery Rock found its game two redemption when Hurd dealt 16 strikeouts and allowed just four hits and one earned run in a 10-2 victory over Clarion.
 
The Golden Eagles began the day with a 1-0 lead thanks to a solo shot from Kathryn O'Horo in a first inning that contained two of Clarion's four hits of the contest. Slippery Rock pulled ahead in the third inning with a 3-1 lead thanks to an error that allowed Hurd to score prior to a pair of RBI-singles by Kennedy and Nutter.
 
Clarion got a run back in the fourth inning to make it 3-2 when an error advanced a baserunner around from second.
 
Slippery Rock's largest offensive swing of momentum came in the fifth inning off the bat of Smith, who crushed the first home run of her career into left centerfield, scoring Kennedy and Montie to extend SRU's lead to 6-2.
 
Through an error, a passed ball and two RBI-singles from Hurd and Mansfield, Slippery Rock was able to add four insurance runs in the top of the seventh to create a 10-2 advantage.
 
Fittingly, it was a pair of strikeouts that moved Hurd from 14 on the day to a historic 16^th in the bottom of the seventh to secure SRU's first PSAC West win of the season.
 
Slippery Rock wound up with a 12-4 stronghold in hits, while Clarion committed four errors as opposed to SRU's two. Megan Anderson (0-5) recorded the loss after pitching the first five innings of the game for the Golden Eagles.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Slippery Rock will resume play 2 p.m. Wednesday in a road doubleheader at Mercyhurst University. Game two will follow at approximately 4 p.m.




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