GREENSBURG, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team suffered a doubleheader sweep on the road Saturday at Seton Hill University.
 
The Griffins earned a close 2-1 victory in game one before finishing off their four-game Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division sweep of The Rock with an 8-2 victory in game two.
 
Slippery Rock exits the weekend at 24-16 overall and 14-10 inside the PSAC West while Seton Hill has now won 11 straight games to improve to 32-12 overall and 16-7 in league contests.  
 
With four conference games remaining in the season, Slippery Rock sits fourth in the PSAC West standings - three games ahead of fifth-place California (Pa.). The top four teams in the division standings at the end of the season qualify for the PSAC Tournament.
 
While this weekend's four-game sweep will likely hurt The Rock's standing within the Atlantic Region rankings, SRU still controls its own destiny in terms of clinching a berth into the conference tournament.
 
GAME ONE: SHU 2 – SRU 1
The Rock's Joey Purcell and Seton Hill' Aidan Layton both turned in great performances on the mound in another close game between the two evenly matched teams that ultimately went to the Griffins in a 2-1 decision.
 
Purcell (4-4) went 5.1 innings with five strikeouts while giving up two runs on six hits before giving way to Joey Vanzin, who registered the final two outs of the sixth inning in a productive relief outing for the freshman.
 
Layton (6-2) countered by scattering one run on two hits and two walks to go alongside seven strikeouts to pick up the complete-game victory. He allowed just one baserunner over the final four innings.
 
The bulk of Slippery Rock's offense came from the top of its batting order where Brandon Butler and Eddie Morris were both 1-for-3 with Morris driving in SRU's lone run.
 
Koby Bubash and Braden Olson, who scored on Morris' RBI, also reached base with one walk apiece.
 
Slippery Rock posted the game's opening run in the third. Following two scoreless innings, Olson drew a one-out walk before taking second on a wild pitch and later scoring courtesy of a two-out single by Morris.
 
SRU's lead held until the fifth inning when Seton Hill tallied a pair of runs off an RBI single by Jack Whalen and a successful sacrifice flyout from Jack Oberdorf which brought in Whalen for what turned out to be the game-winning run.
 
The Rock's final chance for a run came in the seventh inning. Bubash walked with one out in the frame and promptly took second and third on back-to-back wild pitches. However, the would be game-tying run was stranded at third as Layton recovered to register a pair of strikeouts to close out the win.
 
GAME TWO: SHU 8 – SRU 2
Slippery Rock was unable to avoid the series sweep in an 8-2 game-two loss.
 
Olson led the way for SRU in game two by going 2-for-3 with one RBI and a double. Bubash also reached base twice after a 1-for-2, one-run, one-walk showing.
 
Purcell, Robby Barrientos, Michael Kitko and Noah Ross each collected base hits as well with Barrientos' resulting in his 19th RBI of 2024.
 
SRU used four pitchers in game two. Hunter Loomis (2-2) started the contest and pitched 1.2 innings with four unearned runs allowed on two hits and two walks. Eoin Rossman pitched the next 1.1 innings, giving up three runs and striking out a trio of batters.
 
Robert Herr and Gino Marra rounded out Slippery Rock's arms for the weekend with Herr yielding one unearned run over his two innings of work.
 
As was the case in the opener, SRU once again struck first in game two thanks to Barrientos and Olson who produced back-to-back run-scoring singles in the second inning from the bottom of The Rock's batting order.
 
However, The Rock's lead was short-lived as the Griffins rallied for four unearned runs in the bottom of the second parlayed with another four-run inning in the fourth to take a six-run advantage they would never relinquish in an eventual 8-2 sweep-clinching victory.
 
SHU reliever Ian Korn (2-0) came on for starter Andino Vecchiolla in the fourth inning to take the victory after throwing three shutout innings. Oberdorf drove in three of Seton Hill's eight runs.
 
Slippery Rock plays its final non-conference contest of the regular season when it hosts Notre Dame College for a single nine-inning game 3 p.m. April 30 at Critchfield Park.






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