INDIANA, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team split its road Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division doubleheader at Indiana University (Pa.) Saturday.
The Rock took game one from the Crimson Hawks, 9-5, before dropping the nightcap, 10-3. The split moves SRU's record to 14-9 overall and 5-3 in league play while IUP ends the weekend at 7-18 overall and 3-5 inside the PSAC West.
Tyler Cerame,
Cam Panyko Morris and
Stone Powell each had hits in both ends of Saturday's doubleheader.
Cerame led the pack, going 4-for-7 with four runs, one RBI and a double. Powell was a combined 3-for-5 with one run, one RBI, one walk, one stolen base and a double. Panyko Morris enjoyed a 3-for-7, one-run, three-RBI, one-home run set of games.
GAME ONE: SRU 9 – IUP 5
Slippery Rock plated runs in five of seven innings on the way to a 9-5 victory in the opener.
In a game that saw Slippery Rock register its third highest hit output of the season, it was Cerame and
Gage Gillott who helped lead the way with a pair of three-hit games.
Gillott, who served as SRU's leadoff hitter Saturday, went 3-for-5 with two RBI, a double and two stolen bases. Cerame was 3-for-4 with three runs, one RBI and a double.
Panyko Morris supplied The Rock with some power in the form of his third home run of the year and a double as part of a 2-for-4, one-run, three-RBI showing.
Powell also registered a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with one run, one RBI, one walk, one stolen base and a double.
Michael Kitko,
Brandon Butler and
Clay Wiesen all had hits as well with Kitko scoring twice and Wiesen stealing a base.
Joe Purcell (3-2) picked up his third consecutive win after scattering five runs over five innings on six hits to go with three strikeouts. In addition to his hitting exploits, Kitko also pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Purcell to log his second save of the year.
SRU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with runs in each of the opening two innings thanks to RBI-doubles by Panyko Morris in the first and Powell in the second.
Purcell pitched three shutout innings to open the game before IUP evened the contest at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the fourth inning. However, Slippery Rock answered back with a decisive five-run fifth frame to take a lead it would never relinquish.
Following a leadoff walk by Kitko, Panyko Morris belted a homer to centerfield for the inning's first two runs. SRU's final three scores of the inning came courtesy of a balk that brought home Butler, a Cerame RBI single followed later by Cerame scoring on a wild pitch.
While IUP did score three times in the bottom of the fifth to cut The Rock's lead to 7-5, any thoughts of a comeback were halted thanks to Kitko's scoreless two innings of relief work in addition to two insurance tallies in the seventh by way of a two-run single from Gillott en route to the 7-5 win.
Indiana used five pitchers in the loss. Jake Black (2-4) was the pitcher of record. He gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in four innings.
GAME TWO: IUP 10 – SRU 3
Indiana clinched the 3-1 series victory over The Rock thanks to a 10-3 win in game two of Saturday's doubleheader.
IUP scored four first-inning runs to grab an early advantage. While The Rock cut into the Crimson Hawks' lead with three runs in the third, Indiana pulled away from SRU by posting six runs over the final stages of the contest for the seven-run victory.
Treston Nemeth highlighted SRU's efforts in game two as the catcher went 2-for-3 with one run, one home run and two RBI.
Powell, Cerame and Panyko Morris all had one-hit games as well with Cerame's coming on a double in addition to scoring a run. Gillott scored one run, Wiesen drew one walk and
Caelan Bender had an RBI to round out The Rock's offensive leaders.
Slippery Rock used two pitchers in game two.
Ethan Edkins (2-2) and
Parker Hogge each went three innings and had identical stat lines of five runs allowed on six hits.
Nathan Mankoski (2-2) pitched six innings for IUP, giving up The Rock's three runs on five hits and a walk before Nick Rispoli threw a scoreless seventh inning. Elijah Dunn went 3-for-3 with four runs, two home runs and five RBI to guide Indiana's offense.
Slippery Rock returns home to host Mansfield for a non-conference doubleheader April 1 at Jack Critchfield Park. First pitch of game one is set for 1 p.m.
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