QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team came away on the losing side of a pitchers' duel in its first game of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament, suffering a no-hitter to Bloomsburg University in a 1-0 tilt.
 
The Rock (25-26), the fourth seed in the PSAC West, now turn their attention to the elimination bracket and await the loser of Wednesday afternoon's contest between Shippensburg University and Gannon University. That elimination game will be played at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
 
The fifth-seeded PSAC East representative Bloomsburg (32-20) will next square off with No. 15 East Stroudsburg University in the double-elimination playoff.  
 
Bloomsburg's Callie Sowers (22-5) dealt the no-hitter to SRU while the Huskies tacked on six hits offensively. Sowers tossed 15 total strikeouts to the 24 Slippery Rock batters faced.
 
Kelsi Anderson (10-11) pitched well for The Rock as well, fanning six batters in the one-run allowance.
 
After Arielle Brown got on base with a walk to lead off in the bottom of the first for SRU, The Rock got a glimpse of what was to come with the inning ending via three straight strikeouts.
 
The Huskies got into scoring position in the top of the second when a double into right center moved runners to second and third, later able to convert that hit into a run when a wild pitch sent Taylor Kranzley across the plate for a 1-0 lead.
 
Jeanna Sukey was walked in the third inning prior to SRU having its best chance of the day in the fourth frame – an inning that saw Julia Montie walked to first before reaching second on a passed ball.
 
That ended up being Slippery Rock's last opportunity with a baserunner, unable to get to a bag in the final three inning.
 
Slippery Rock did a great job defensively to hold Bloomsburg to just one run on the day, with diving plays being made in the infield on more than one occasion from the likes of Alexsa Hurd and Aubrey Mansfield. Montie accompanied Naomi Childs with pulling in a couple of tough flyouts to left centerfield as well.
 
The Rock will learn who its elimination game opponent will be when Shippensburg takes on Gannon at 3 p.m. The loser of that contest will need to make a quick turnaround and stay on the field to meet SRU. Slippery Rock has wins against both the Raiders and the Golden Knights this year, splitting with Shippensburg and going 1-2 versus Gannon.





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