SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team earned a doubleheader sweep against Saint Anselm College Saturday at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
SRU began the day by winning a pitcher's duel in the opener, 2-0, followed by 12-9 victory in game two to secure the doubleheader sweep. Slippery Rock has now won three of its last four games to improve to 7-5 overall while the Hawks exit the day at 3-10.
 
Stone Powell went a combined 2-for-4 with four RBI and three walks over the doubleheader to help lead Slippery Rock.
 
Gage Gillott pitched five innings in game one's shutout followed by compiling two hits and a stolen base in game two.
 
Jimmy Sadler had hits in both ends of the doubleheader as well while Michael Kitko scored four total runs with one RBI, a hit and two walks. Tyler Cerame also reached base in both games with the highlight being his second home run of the season.

GAME ONE: SRU 2 – SAC 0
Slippery Rock parlayed two great pitching performances with timely hitting for a 2-0 shutout victory in the opener.
 
As they have been virtually all season, Gillott (2-2) and Mark Wilbur were again dominant on the mound Saturday. Gillott set the tone by striking out six batters while scattering two hits and three walks over five shutout innings before giving way to Wilbur, who picked up his second save of 2025 with two shutout innings of his own.
 
At the plate, Slippery Rock was led by youth-veteran combination of Powell and Joe Purcell.
 
A freshman playing in his fourth collegiate game, Powell plated the game's opening run with an RBI-single in the fifth inning while Purcell provided SRU with an insurance score an inning later by way of a run-scoring double.
 
Sadler had The Rock's remaining hit in the opener while Kitko and Cam Panyko Morris both scored runs with Panyko Morris also walking once and stealing his first base of 2025.
 
Gillott and Saint Anselm starting pitcher Marko Gibbons (1-1) traded scoreless frames over the game's first four innings with neither facing serious trouble: The Rock and Hawks each had just one baserunner reach third through the opening stages of the game. However, SRU was finally able to get to Gibbons in the bottom of the fifth.    
 
Panyko Morris started what turned out to be the decisive inning with a one-out walk before stealing second base on the first pitch Powell saw on the ensuing at-bat to get into scoring position. Powell proceeded to shoot a groundball through the left side of the infield on the next pitch to easily plate Panyko Morris.
 
To his credit, Gibbons limited the damage in the fifth by eventually stranding two runners to keep SRU's lead at 1-0.
 
Wilbur took over for Gillott in the sixth and worked around a two-out double to keep Slippery Rock out front heading into the bottom of the inning where Purcell would send a double down the right field line that scored Kitko, who was hit by a pitch before moving to second on a Cerame walk earlier in the inning.
 
Any hopes of a Hawks rally were put to rest by Wilbur in the seventh when the veteran reliever again pitched around a two-out hit by inducing a game-ending grounder to second base, closing out The Rock's first shutout win of the year.
 
Gibbons went 5.1 innings for Saint Anselm, giving up both Rock runs on two hits and three walks. Nolan Mederos recorded the final two outs of the sixth in place of Gibbons.

GAME TWO: SRU 12 – SAC 9
In near polar opposite of the opener, no lead was safe in game two as The Rock and Hawks traded big innings with SRU outlasting Saint Anselm, 12-9, thanks to its highest scoring output of the season.
 
 After etching out just three hits and three walks in game one, Slippery Rock posted nine hits while drawing eight walks all the while taking advantage of five hit batters en route to the win.
 
Cerame paced SRU's efforts in the nightcap, going 2-for-5 with two runs, one home run and three RBI. Powell drove in three runs of his own as part of a 1-for-2, three-walk outing.
 
Following his shutout appearance on the mound, Gillott took to the plate in game two to go 2-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base while also getting on base two additional times after being hit by pitches.
 
Kitko enjoyed an efficient day, going 1-for-2 with three runs, one RBI and two walks.
 
Sadler, Clay Wiesen and Andrew Frye all registered hits as well. Sadler drove in one run and stole a base. Wiesen's hit was his team-leading fourth double of the season while Frye's served as his first collegiate hit.
 
SRU used three pitchers in the win. Nate Malak got the start but lasted just 3.2 innings after giving up five runs on six hits and two walks alongside four strikeouts.
 
Hunter Loomis (1-0) came on for Malak in the seventh and proceeded to go three innings with four runs allowed – two of which were earned – on five hits and one walk. Joey Vanzin locked down his first save by entering the game in a high-leverage situation and throwing 2.1 shutout innings.
 
Slippery Rock appeared poised to run away with game two early when it jumped out to a 7-0 lead with two runs in the second and five more in the third. Saint Anselm answered back by tallying five runs of its own in the fourth followed by two more in the fifth to even the game at 7-7.
 
Not to be outdone, The Rock again exploded for five more runs the following inning to extend their lead back to five runs at 12-7 only for an unrelenting Hawks team meet SRU's five-run sixth by scoring twice in the seventh. SAC could not further cut into Slippery Rock's lead though in what could have been another big inning.
 
With two outs in the frame and the bases loaded, an RBI-single by Maverick Bourdeau chased Loomis from the game in favor of Vanzin, who walked the first batter he faced to bring in another Hawk run. However, Vanzin bounced back from the initial walk by forcing a groundout the next at-bat to limit the damage and get out of the inning with SRU ahead 12-9.
 
Vanzin controlled the remainder of the game by throwing two final shutout innings en route to The Rock's three-run victory.
 
Saint Anselm used six pitchers in game two. Nolan Mederos (0-2) took the loss after giving up four runs in 0.1 innings.
 
Slippery Rock and Saint Anselm are scheduled to finish their four-game series with a doubleheader Sunday. First pitch from Critchfield Park is scheduled for 1 p.m.







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