SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader Saturday at Shippensburg University.  

Following a 6-2 loss in the opener, SRU salvaged the day with a 5-3 win in game two. The split moves The Rock's record to 4-3 overall, while the host Raiders exit the weekend at 7-4.

Leading The Rock offensively with hits in both ends of Saturday's doubleheader was the quartet of Brandon Butler, Cam Panyko Morris, Gage Gillott and Michael Kitko.

Panyko Morris earned his hits by way of a double and his first home run of 2025 in addition to scoring twice. Gillott and Kitko recorded one RBI apiece as well, while Butler totaled one run and stole his first base of the season. Kitko leaves the weekend on a seven-game hitting streak.

The Rock's top pitching performance belonged to game two starter Nate Malak (1-0), who gave a dominant effort on the way to his first victory of the year.

SRU's victory in game two was the 1,127th in the career of head coach Jeff Messer, who is now tied with Frank Vieira (New Haven, 1963-2006) for 10th place on the Division II career wins list. 

GAME ONE: SU 6 – SRU 3
Slippery Rock carried a three-run lead into the late stages of game one before a pair of big innings for Raiders gave Shippensburg a 6-3 victory in the opener.

Pankyo Morris got The Rock going early with a leadoff home run in the second inning followed by back-to-back RBI singles from Kitko and Gillott in the third.

SRU carried its 3-0 advantage into the fifth inning before Shippensburg took advantage of a pair of Rock fielding errors to load the bases, leading to a three-run double by Gio Calamia that pulled the Raiders into a 3-3 tie.

Following a scoreless top of the sixth by The Rock, Shippensburg continued its rally with three more runs in the bottom of the inning to take a three-run advantage of its own heading into a seventh.

A rally was not to be for Slippery Rock in the opener as Shippensburg's J.T. Weaver (2-0) closed out his complete-game victory by retiring SRU in order by way of consecutive flyouts.

Tyler Cerame accounted for two of The Rock's seven hits in game one by going 2-for-4 with one run and two stolen bases. Butler, Kitko, Gillott, Panyko Morris and Treston Nemeth all had hits as well in the opener. Panyko Morris' came courtesy of his solo homer.

Joe Purcell (0-1) took the loss on the mound for The Rock. He pitched 5.1 innings, allowing six runs – only two of which were earned – on six hits and one walk to go with three strikeouts. Mark Wilbur recorded the final two outs of the sixth inning in relief of Purcell.

GAME TWO: SRU 5 – SU 3
While Shippensburg made it an interesting game late, Slippery Rock held on to its early lead in game two to earn a 5-3 doubleheader-salvaging victory.

Malak struck out six batters over 5.1 shutout innings while giving up just one hit and two walks. Kitko earned the save after forcing consecutive flyouts to strand two runners on base.

Ethan Edkins worked between Malak and Kitko, allowing three runs on three hits and one walk in one inning.

After pitching in the opener, Purcell returned to his spot atop The Rock's batting order to go 1-for-3 with two runs, one home run, two runs scored and a walk. His home run was the second of his career.

Nemeth and Clay Wiesen also collected one RBI apiece in the win, with Wiesen also scoring once and stealing a base.

Kitko, Gillott, Butler and Panyko Morris rounded out The Rock's top performers at one hit apiece. The hits by Gillott and Panyko Morris came by way of doubles.

Slippery Rock scored five consecutive runs through the opening five innings of the nightcap.

SRU's third inning featured a leadoff double by Panyko Morris followed promptly by a run-scoring single from Wiesen. Two batters later Purcell drove a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall to cap off the big inning.

The fifth inning saw Caelan Bender and Purcell draw back-to-back walks to start the frame before moving up a base on an accompanying Cerame flyout. Nemeth then plated Bender courtesy of a sacrifice fly followed by an infield single from Kitko that brought in Purcell.

The five-run advantage proved to be enough for SRU's pitching staff. While Shippensburg did score two runs early in the seventh and later load the bases with one out, Kitko was able to come on in relief of Edkins and navigate out of the jam with just one additional run yielded to finish off the two-run victory.

Cameron Goble was the pitcher of record for Shippensburg. He gave up five runs on five hits and three walks in 4.2 innings. Brenden Anderson and Bryce Amos combined to throw 2.1 scoreless innings in relief of Goble.

Slippery Rock continues its 10-game road trip when it plays a three-game series March 7-9 at West Virginia State University.




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