SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team opened its four-game Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division series against Clarion with a doubleheader split Friday at Critchfield Park.
 
After losing the opener, 3-2, The Rock rallied for a 7-1 victory in game two to salvage the day.
 
Following the split, SRU's record moves to 25-12 overall and 12-6 inside the PSAC West while the Golden Eagles exit The Rock at 17-19 overall and 8-9 in league games. Slippery Rock enters Saturday's scheduled doubleheader against Clarion tied for second in the PSAC West standings with Seton Hill, which split a pair of games Friday versus Gannon.
 
Left fielder Gage Gillott helped lead the way for Slippery Rock, going a combined 4-for-8 over the doubleheader with one run scored and two RBIs. Gillott has now recorded five consecutive multi-hit games.
 
The quartet of centerfielder Cam Panyko Morris, second baseman Clay Wiesen, right fielder Michael Kitko and catcher Treston Nemeth all had hits in both ends of Friday's doubleheader as well.
 
Wiesen went 3-for-5 with one run scored and a walk in the two games. Panyko Morris collected two hits, scored once, hit one home run and had two RBIs. Nemeth also had two hits – both of which were doubles while scoring twice.
 
In addition to going 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two walks at the plate, Kitko also earned the win as a relief pitcher with a dominating performance in game two.

GAME 1: CLARION 3 - SRU 2
A three-run fifth inning proved to be the difference in the Golden Eagles' 3-2 victory over Slippery Rock in Friday's first game.
 
Slippery Rock got on the board early with an opening-inning run when shortstop Tyler Cerame shot a bases-loaded single to left field that easily plated Nemeth, who doubled earlier in the inning and took third on a Kitko single.
 
Clarion avoided further damage when Kitko was thrown out on the same play attempting to score from second, getting the Golden Eagles out of the inning with only one run allowed.
 
The Rock's one-run advantage held until the decisive fifth inning thanks to another great outing on the mound for starting pitcher Nate Malak.
 
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases on three consecutive one-out singles before a fly ball to shallow foul territory on the first base side resulted in their first run as first baseman Stone Powell and Nemeth convened at the ball with Powell making the grab. However, home plate was left uncovered as Caden Contant tagged from third.
 
Clarion took its first lead of the day on the following play when Tyson Gill drove a two-run single up the middle, giving the Golden Eagles a 3-1 edge.
 
Panyko Morris hit a solo home run in the bottom of the frame to cut The Rock's margin to one run at 3-2, but SRU was unable to find the game-tying tally in the contest's late stages as the Golden Eagles hung on for the one-run win.
 
Malak (5-1) was the pitcher of record for The Rock. He gave up three runs on five hits while striking out four batters in five innings. Mark Wilbur came on for Malak in the sixth and threw two shutout innings with just one hit allowed in addition to three strikeouts.
 
Cerame and Wiesen both went 2-for-3 in the opener with Cerame driving in one run and Wiesen stealing a base. Gillott also collected a pair of hits in a 2-for-4 showing.
 
Panky Morris' home run was his team-leading fourth of the year. Kitko (1-for-2, 1 walk) and Nemeth (1-for-4, 1 run) rounded out The Rock's top performers.
 
Ryan Gallagher (1-0) earned the win for the Golden Eagles. He went 5.2 innings, scattering two runs on seven hits and a pair of walks. Reilly Shafer garnered the save with 1.1 shutout innings in relief of Gallagher.

GAME 2: SRU 7 – Clarion 1
Slippery Rock scored seven unanswered runs to beat Clarion, 7-1, in game two and grab a doubleheader split in the process.
 
Kitko (2-0) did a little bit of everything for The Rock in their game two victory. Not only did he go 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk at the plate, he also struck out four batters in 1.1 perfect innings of relief work to earn his second victory this season.
 
Prior to Kitko's dominant showing on the mound Rock starting pitcher Hunter Loomis also turned in a great outing. Loomis surrendered just one unearned run on five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over 5.2 innings pitched.
 
As was the case in game one, Slippery Rock also amassed nine hits in Friday's nightcap. Gillott once again went 2-for-4 with one run scored, a pair of RBIs and a double.
 
Joining Kitko with one-hit games was the contingent Nemeth, Powell, Wiesen, Panyko Morris, right fielder Robert Herr and third baseman Brandon Butler. Powell's hit came by way of his third home run of the season while Panyko Morris also drove in one run.
 
Clarion scored the contest's opening run in the third inning and took its 1-0 lead into the fourth where an RBI-single from Panyko Morris brought home Butler, who singled to lead off the inning before matriculating to third base, for the game-tying run.
 
The Rock and Golden Eagles remained in a 1-1 stalemate until SRU broke through with a monster sixth inning that saw SRU plate six runs to put the game away.
 
Powell set the tone for the inning when he launched a leadoff homer for the go-ahead score. Slippery Rock went on to load the bases via a Cerame walk, Wiesen being hit by a pitch and finally a single by Herr to bring up Gillott, who came through with a two-run double.
 
The big inning concluded with Herr scoring on a passed ball and a two-run single by Kitko for what turned out to be the game's final two runs. Following his RBIs, Kitko closed out the game by working around a hit batter with three consecutive strikeouts en route to the 7-1 decision.
 
Clarion used three pitchers in game two. Carter Barrett (2-4) took the loss after allowing six runs in relief of starter Cole Yeager.
 
Slippery Rock and Clarion will close out their PSAC West weekend series with a doubleheader Saturday in Clarion. First pitch of game one is set for 11 a.m.




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