JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team took two games from Pitt-Johnstown Saturday at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to close out a series sweep of the Mountain Cats.
 
The Rock posted a 6-4 victory in the opener before taking game two 3-2.
 
Slippery Rock, which has now won five consecutive games, ends the weekend in possession of a 12-6 overall record and a 4-0 mark in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action. UPJ falls to 7-13 overall and 0-4 inside the PSAC following the sweep.
 
Slippery Rock grabbed its two wins Saturday thanks in no small part to the efforts of its starting pitchers Joe Purcell (2-2) and Ethan Edkins (2-1). The pair combined to strikeout 18 batters and allow just four runs over 11.2 innings.
 
Offensively, Cam Panyko Morris went 3-for-7 over the doubleheader with two runs scored, one home run – his second of the year – and four RBI. Treston Nemeth also collected hits in both parts of the doubleheader, finishing the day a combined 3-for-7 with three runs and one RBI.
 
Gage Gillott reached base a total of five times against Pitt-Johnstown by way of two hits, two walks and being hit by a pitch once. Through 14 games, Gillott has accumulated a team-high .517 on-base percentage.
 
Michael Kitko produced hits in both games as well and has now reached base in 18 consecutive games this season.
 
GAME ONE: SRU 8 – UPJ 4
Slippery Rock scored at least one run in five consecutive innings while Purcell supplied The Rock with his best start of the year as SRU assured itself of a series victory with an 8-4 win in game one.
 
Purcell enjoyed his longest outing of 2025 as the senior went six innings while striking out a season-high seven batters and surrendering a season-low two runs on six hits and one walk. As part of his strong outing, Purcell moved into 18th place in Slippery Rock history for strikeouts in a career with 138.
 
Gino Marra took over for Purcell in the seventh, allowing two runs in his second outing of the year.
 
All nine Rock starters recorded hits in a game that featured 11 SRU hits overall, five of which came by way of extra bases. Nemeth and Stone Powell each went 2-for-4 with Nemeth scoring two runs and driving in another.
 
Tyler Cerame hit his team-best third home run of the season which resulted in two RBI. Brandon Butler matched Cerame with two RBI in addition to scoring once and belting a triple.
 
In what's becoming a reoccurring trend, Clay Wiesen collected an extra-base hit via a triple. He also scored a run and walked once.
 
Gillott and Jimmy Sadler each reached base twice with a hit and a walk. A run and a double accompanied Gillott's two trips on base.
 
Kitko doubled and tallied his team-leading 16th RBI of the season. Panyko Morris rounded out The Rock's top performers by going 1-for-4 with one run, one RBI and a stolen base.
 
The Rock and Mountain Cats traded runs in the first inning with Butler hitting a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to plate Sadler only to be countered by a leadoff homer by UPJ's Brody Roberts in the bottom of the frame.
 
However, the remainder of the game belonged to SRU as Sadler collected an RBI-single in the second inning followed by a decisive four-run third that featured a run-scoring triple from Butler, another RBI single by Nemeth and was capped off with Cerame's two-run home run to left field.
 
Slippery Rock closed the game by tallying additional insurance runs in the fourth and fifth. Pitt-Johnstown, meanwhile, was limited to just one run and four hits over Purcell's final four innings of work before the Mountain Cats tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh before Marra closed out the game with a flyout to secure a four-run victory.
 
UPJ starting pitcher Ben Tomb (2-2) made it two innings before exiting the contest having allowed six runs on six hits and three walks. Antonio Caporossi and Roman Donis combined to pitch five innings out of the Pitt-Johnstown bullpen, allowing two runs.   
 
GAME TWO: SRU 3 – UPJ 2
Slippery Rock parlayed another outstanding pitching performance with timely offense to earn a 3-2 win in the nightcap to polish off the four-game series sweep.
 
Starting pitchers Edkins and Brian Pirone traded scoreless frames over the first two innings, with Edkins striking out six of the seven batters he faced early on before The Rock broke the scoreless tie with a Panyko Morris solo home run to left field in the third inning only for UPJ to take advantage of a hit, error and finally a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to pull the game back into a tie at 1-1.
 
Edkins and Pirone returned to stymying the opposition until the top of the sixth inning when a one-out single by Nemeth paired with Cerame being hit by a pitch chased Pirone from the game in favor of Eric Rhodes, who walked Powell to load the bases and bring Panyko Morris to the plate. SRU's centerfielder promptly shot a double to right field that brought in two runs and gave Slippery Rock a 3-1 lead.
 
Pitt-Johnstown cut into The Rock's lead with a run in the bottom of the sixth via a run-scoring double by Devon Boyles, but Joey Vanzin, who came on for Edkins following Boyles' hit, ended the threat with no additional runs allowed.
 
Following a scoreless top of the seventh, Vanzin came back out for the bottom of the inning to close out the game and clinch the series sweep. The sophomore reliever earned his second save of the season by striking out the leadoff batter and then forcing a flyout and finally a groundout to second base.
 
Over 93 pitches, Edkins went 5.2 innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts and a mere two runs allowed on three hits and a walk. Vanzin picked up the save with two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of relief.
 
Panyko Morris supplied The Rock's offensive firepower by going 2-for-3 with one run, one home run, three RBI and a double.
 
Wiesen, Kitko, Gillott and Nemeth all posted hits as well. Wiesen's game-two hit was a double – his team-leading ninth extra-base hit of the year. Gillott also walked once and stole two bases.
 
Pirone (1-2) was the pitcher of record for UPJ. He allowed all three Rock runs on five hits and two walks over 5.1 innings.  
 
Slippery Rock returns to competition March 28-29 with a four-game PSAC West series against Indiana University (Pa.). SRU will host the Crimson Hawks for a doubleheader at Critchfield Park on March 28 before heading to IUP for two games the following day.





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