SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader against Mansfield University Tuesday at Jack Crtichfield Park.
 
After dropping the opener 5-1, SRU bounced back to earn a 13-5 victory over the Mountaineers in game two. Tuesday's split moves The Rock's record to 17-9 overall while Mansfield leaves Slippery Rock at 8-23.
 
Joey Purcell and Koby Bubash both had hits in both ends of Tuesday's doubleheader to lead The Rock.
 
Bubash, who is on a seven-game hitting streak, was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI. He also reached base two additional times after being hit by a pitch twice.
 
Purcell meanwhile went a combined 3-for-9 with three runs scored, one home run and three RBI. The home run was the first of the season for Purcell.

GAME ONE: MU 5 – SRU 1
Slippery Rock couldn't maintain an early lead as Mansfield starting pitcher Tyler Swineford (2-3) bounced back from a shaky first inning to lead MU to a 5-1 victory in game one.
 
Purcell led off the bottom of the first with a double and later scored courtesy of a Bubash run-scoring single, giving SRU an early 1-0 lead. Swineford rebounded from the early set back by stranding two base runners to limit the damage.
 
The Mountaineers countered with one run in the second inning while Swineford proceeded to hold The Rock to just one base runner over the following two innings before the Mountaineers exploded for four runs in the fourth inning to take a 5-1 lead they would never relinquish.
 
SRU's best chance for a run after the opening inning came in the bottom of the fourth when Bubash was hit by a pitch and Cam Panyko Morris drew a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs.
 
However, thanks to a pair of ground balls – one which allowed MU to get Panyko Morris out at second on a fielder's choice and another which resulted in an inning-ending double play – Swineford was once again able to work out of trouble to end the rally.
 
Bubash went a perfect 2-for-2 with one RBI in the opener. Purcell and Brett Galcik accounted for Slippery Rock's other two hits with matching doubles. Panyko Morris, Michael Kitko and Sam Muetzel all reached base by drawing walks as well.
 
SRU used three pitcher sin game one. Hunter Loomis (0-1) was the pitcher of record for Slippery Rock after allowing five runs on six hits and two walks in addition to three strikeouts over 3.1 innings.
 
Robert Herr, who was making his team-high 10th appearance of the year, pitched 2.2 shutout innings with just one hit allowed before giving way to Eoin Rossman, who threw a shutout seventh inning in what was his first appearance of 2024.
 
Swineford earned the win after scattering one run on three hits and three walks over six innings. Alex Bucolo and Evan Woznick combined to record three outs in the seventh. Jeffrey Coakley and Shay Gustafson had two RBI each for Mansfield.

GAME TWO: SRU 13 – MU 5
Slippery Rock scored early and often on the way to a 13-5 split-salvaging victory in game two.
 
The Rock's offensive onslaught marked the team's highest run output since scoring 17 against Wilmington on March 18, 2023 while the 14 hits were the most dating back to a 15-hit outing at Mansfield on April 18, 2023. Of SRU's 14 hits six went for extra bases (four doubles, two home runs)
 
Eight Rock players recorded at least one hit in the nightcap, led by Braden Olson who went 3-for-4 with one run, a double and an RBI.
 
Purcell was 2-for-5 with two runs, one home run and three RBI from his spot atop The Rock's batting order. Panyko Morris also launched a home run, his team-leading fourth of the season, while scoring twice and earning three walks.
 
Kitko, Brandon Butler and Gage Gillott each registered two-hit performances with Butler's coming on two doubles as part of a two-run, one-RBI afternoon. Kitko's two RBI gives him a Rock-high 19 on the year.
 
Rounding out SRU's leaders in game two was Bubash (1-for-3, 2 runs, 1 HBP) and Robby Barrientos (1-for-4, 1 run, 2 RBI).
 
Joey Vanzin got the start on the mound for Slippery Rock. He tossed two shutout innings with three strikeouts and just one walk allowed. Mark Wilbur Jr. took over in the third inning, giving up four runs on four hits and two walks alongside four strikeouts in 1.2 innings.
 
Gino Marra (1-0), who entered for Wilbur Jr. in the fourth, earned his first win of the season by scattering one run on four hits and two walks through the final 3.1 innings. Marra matched a career-high with five strikeouts.  
 
Slippery Rock and Mansfield each posted four-run innings early on – SRU's in the first and MU's in the fourth – only for The Rock to tally a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth as well thanks to RBI hits by Kitko and Butler.
 
While the Mounties briefly cut into The Rock's lead with a run in the top sixth, Slippery Rock put the game away by going for seven runs in the bottom of the frame en route to the win.
 
Mansfield used six pitchers in game two. Reliever Joseph Gleason was responsible for the loss after allowing two runs in 1.2 innings.
 
Slippery Rock next plays California (Pa.) this weekend in an important Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division series.
 
SRU will first host the Vulcans for two games Friday at Critchfield Park before traveling to WildThings Park in Washington, Pennsylvania for a doubleheader Saturday.





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