CLERMONT, Fla. – Alexsa Hurd threw 11 strikeouts and drove two runs in with a walk-off single to lift the Slippery Rock University softball team over Bentley University in a 2-1 win to open the day at The Spring Games. SRU dropped game two to American International College, 9-5.
 
The split result moves The Rock to 4-10 on the season. The Bentley Falcons dropped to 3-4 overall, while the AIC Yellow Jackets earned their first win of the season to snag a 1-4 mark to the year.
 
Hurd improved to 3-2 with one save this season with the game one win. On top of the 11 strikeouts, she held Bentley to three walks, five hits and no earned runs. Offensively, she led the team batting 3-for-7 with a home run and a double.
 
Julia Montie went 2-for-8 with a home run, as Jessica Goldhardt hit the first home run of her career in a 2-for-3 day that included a team-leading three runs and three stolen bases. Arielle Brown went 3-for-3 on the day with a double, joining Shaylyn Shall (2-for-4, 1 2B) with an extra-base hit.
 
Emma Kennedy (1-for-5), Aubrey Mansfield (1-for-6), Sydney Brown (1-for-1, 1 RBI) and Naomi Childs (1-for-3) all contributed hits as well.
 
Paige Gresgott (0-6) took the game two start and loss, tossing three strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Mackenzie Borkovich threw one strikeout in the next 1.1 innings before Alexa Uphold saw out the final out of game two in the circle.
 
GAME ONE – Slippery Rock 2, Bentley 1
Slippery Rock fought for all seven innings against the Falcons, walking off with the 2-1 win in the bottom of the seventh. Leaving runners on base became the storyline for both teams in the contest, as SRU and Bentley combined to strand 18 runners throughout the morning.
 
The Falcons were the first to break through with a runner to reach home plate when a double to right center brought a 1-0 lead to Bentley in the top of the third. Slippery Rock loaded the bases with no outs in response but could not push anyone across.
 
Bentley looked to open up its lead in the top of the fourth but likewise left the bases loaded. SRU's next hit came in the bottom of the fifth but the 1-0 difference remained true. The Rock got two on base in the sixth but needed the bottom of the seventh to get runs on the board.
 
After Hurd threw two more strikeouts in the top of the seventh to leave the score at 1-0, Arielle Brown and Kennedy got on base early for The Rock. Goldhardt and Jeanna Sukey came on to pinch run for them and were both brought home on an RBI-single into right center by Hurd to secure the 2-1 win for The Rock.
 
Arielle Brown went 3-for-3 with a double to provide three of Slippery Rock's seven hits. Kennedy (1-for-4), Hurd (1-for-3, 2 RBI), Mansfield (1-for-3) and Childs (1-for-3) made up the rest. Goldhardt stole one base.
 
Hurd (3-2) tossed 11 Ks in the complete came while walking just three of the 32 batters faced and allowing no earned runs. It's the second time in just seven appearances this season in which Hurd has thrown at least 11 strikeouts.
 
Kim Saunders batted 2-for-3 for the Falcons, while Jordan Krause (1-for-4) produced the RBI-double. Riley Piromalli (2-2) suffered the loss in the circle after throwing four strikeouts in the complete 6.1-inning stint.
 
The Rock outhit Bentley 7-5 and committed the only error of the game. SRU finished the game with eight runners left on base compared to the Falcons' 10.
 
GAME TWO – American International 9, Slippery Rock 5
Each of the seven innings against American International saw at least one run produced by a team in an up-and-down 9-5 loss.
 
Montie homered in the top of the first to give Slippery Rock a 1-0 lead, but the Yellow Jackets snatched the lead with a 2-1 score in the bottom of the second thanks to three hits and an error. An RBI-double from Shall that scored Goldhardt in the third inning tied the contest at 2-2.
 
The Yellow Jackets were not able to respond to The Rock's slugging until the bottom of the fourth when back-to-back singles resulted in an extra run and a 3-2 AIC lead.
 
Goldhardt and Hurd kicked off the fifth inning with back-to-back solo-shot home runs, putting Slippery Rock back ahead, 4-3. AIC produced three hits of its own in the bottom half of the inning to go back ahead 5-4. A three-RBI triple in the sixth piled onto the narrow advantage, and an RBI-single that followed suddenly created a 9-4 advantage for AIC.
 
The Rock were able to get one run back in the top of the seventh when Sydney Brown singled to score Hurd but could not make up the additional four runs in the 9-5 deficit.
 
The top of the order was highlighted by Hurd, Shall and Montie, who all went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Goldhardt batted 2-for-3 in the game with Sydney Brown going 1-for-1. Gresgott (0-6) recorded the loss with three strikeouts in the opening 4.1 innings. Borkovich and Uphold combined for the final two frames.
 
Taylor Murphy (2-for-4, 4 RBI) logged the three-RBI triple that swayed the momentum for AIC. Julia Krijgsman started the game and fanned two batters in the first 4.0 innings, but Trinity LaValley (1-2) earned the win with two strikeouts in the final 3.0 innings.
 
SRU finished the game with nine hits, three errors and six runners left on base, while AIC wrapped things up with 13 hits, one error and 10 left on.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock's final day of The Spring Games will begin 9 a.m. tomorrow against Saint Michael's College and finish up with a 1:45 p.m. start against Wayne State University.





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