SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team traded shutouts with Pitt-Johnstown Monday at Kasnevich Field, taking game one 9-0 in six innings before falling 10-0 in five innings in game two.
 
The Rock moved to 21-18 overall and 15-6 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division with the results, while the Mountain Cats finished the day with a 9-27 record that contains a 6-16 mark in PSAC West competition.
 
Slippery Rock's game-one win paired with Indiana University (Pa.)'s game-one win over Clarion Monday secured The Rock a spot in the 2025 PSAC Tournament, which is set to begin Wednesday, April 30 in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.
 
The Rock will be making a third consecutive appearance in the PSAC Tournament for just the second time in program history. SRU most recently qualified for playoff competition in three straight seasons with four consecutive cameos between 1981-84.
 
Alexsa Hurd (13-5) tossed 11 strikeouts and saw a no-hitter broken up in the fifth inning of game one, allowing just two total hits from UPJ. She went 3-for-7 at the plate in the doubleheader with a double and two RBI. Arielle Brown went 4-for-4 on the afternoon with a game-one appearance, collecting two doubles, three runs and two RBI.
 
Shaylyn Shall crushed her second career home run in a 3-for-7 effort that came with a team-leading four RBI. Alyssa Sheely (2-for-3) and Aubrey Mansfield (2-for-6, 1 2B) both added two hits with additional hitting coming from Naomi Childs (1-for-1), Kayla Williams (1-for-2), Emma Kennedy (1-for-3), Sydney Brown (1-for-3) and Julia Montie (1-for-6).
 
Williams (3-3) suffered the game-two loss for SRU after dealing for the first 4.0 innings. Paige Gresgott came into the circle and tossed two strikeouts in what ended up being the final inning of the contest.
 
GAME ONE – Slippery Rock 9, Pitt-Johnstown 0 (6 innings)
Slippery Rock opened the twin bill by cruising to a 9-0 victory over Pitt-Johnstown, summoning the mercy rule after six innings of play.
 
The Rock looked like they were going to strike early with two runners on in the first but could not bring anyone across. UPJ responded in the top of the second by loading the bases on two walks and a hit-by-pitch but likewise left a zero on the scoreboard.
 
SRU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Sheely singled and Arielle Brown doubled to lead off, and Sheely put The Rock on the board by taking home on a wild pitch. An RBI-single from Shall plated Arielle Brown as well.
 
The Rock increased their lead to 6-0 with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the fourth. A two-out bases-clearing double from Arielle Brown brought Sydney Brown and Kennedy home for a 4-0 lead, and Shall drilled a home run down the left line to give Slippery Rock two more runs.
 
The Mountain Cats broke up Hurd's no-hitter in the top of the fifth but were held without a run. Slippery Rock went up 7-0 in the sixth frame on a single from Shall, and a two-run double by Hurd brought two more runs – including the mercy-rule-clinching eighth run – to the plate for a 9-0 win.
 
Shall's home run highlighted a 3-for-4 game that came with four RBI and two runs, while Arielle Brown wound up going 4-for-4 with two RBI, three runs and two doubles. Hurd also doubled in a 2-for-4 game with two RBI, while Sheely hit 2-for-3 with two runs. Kennedy and Sydney Brown both went 1-for-3 with one run.
 
Hurd (13-5) earned Slippery Rock's first shutout win of the season with 11 strikeouts in 6.0 innings. She allowed just two hits and two walks in the process.
 
Mia Smith (6-13) tossed four strikeouts in the 5.2 innings pitched by Pitt-Johnstown. Isabella DePalma (1-for-3) and Sara Solberg (1-for-1) recorded UPJ's lone hits.
 
The Rock outhit Pitt-Johnstown 13-2, while neither team committed an error. SRU left three runners on base compared to UPJ's five.
 
GAME TWO – Pitt-Johnstown 10, Slippery Rock 0 (5 innings)
Game two saw a mirrored version of game one with Pitt-Johnstown taking its turn to earn a 10-0 run-rule shutout victory.
 
A double in the top of the first with bases loaded gave the Mountain Cats an early 3-0 lead. The second inning saw both teams leave two runners on base, the only scoreless inning of the contest.
 
UPJ tacked on an additional run to take a 4-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI-double into right-center field. A fifth run came on the board just one inning later in a three-hit fourth frame. The Mountain Cats produced an offensive explosion in the fifth inning, scoring five runs to double their lead to 10-0 on six hits and an error.
 
Slippery Rock got two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth, but no runs came across, hence signaling the run-rule loss.
 
Mansfield led The Rock in game-two by hitting 2-for-3 including a double. Hurd (1-for-3), Montie (1-for-3), Williams (1-for-2) and Childs (1-for-1) each registered a single. Williams (3-3) suffered the loss in the circle after pitching the first 4.0 innings. Gresgott tossed two Ks in the last required 1.0 inning of the game.
 
Mahlon Yonkin (3-13) dealt three strikeouts in the shutout win for Pitt-Johnstown, while Julia Mooney (2-for-3, 3 RBI), Jessica Pugh (1-for-3, 3 RBI) and Audrey Paterson (2-for-3, 1 RBI) each knocked a double into play for the Mountain Cats.
 
Slippery Rock accounted for six of the game's 18 hits and two of the contest's three errors. The Rock left eight runners stranded with UPJ leaving six on base.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock will hit the road Tuesday for a heavyweight doubleheader of the top two teams in the PSAC West, traveling to IUP. First pitch against the Crimson Hawks is scheduled for 2 p.m. The two sides split a pair of games at Kasnevich Field earlier this season.





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