SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team fell to Gannon University 4-2 in the teams' resumption of play from April 15's doubleheader Thursday at Kasnevich Field.
 
The loss drops The Rock to 23-19 on the season and 17-7 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division. With their first win over Slippery Rock in four opportunities this season, the Golden Knights improve to 27-17 overall and 16-10 in the PSAC Tournament.
 
Slippery Rock now holds a 2.0-game lead over Seton Hill and Gannon in the PSAC West standings. Gannon's win clinched the Golden Knights a berth to the PSAC Tournament, which begins next Wednesday in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.
 
Arielle Brown (1-for-4), Aubrey Mansfield (1-for-3), Emma Kennedy (1-for-1) and Jessica Goldhardt (1-for-3) all registered hits for The Rock. Childs and Goldhardt each supplied an RBI. Julia Montie and Mansfield each brought a run across the plate for SRU.
 
Paige Gresgott tossed four strikeouts in the game's opening 4.1 innings before Alexsa Hurd came into the circle with six Ks in the last 2.2 frames. In her stint, Hurd allowed just one hit and no runs.
 
On April 15, Gannon earned a 1-0 lead with a lead-off triple to open the game before inclement weather suspended play in the bottom of the second inning. The game was picked up exactly as it left off Thursday, with one out on the board and an SRU runner on second.
 
Defenses made quick work of batters until Slippery Rock drove in two runs on two hits in the bottom of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. A groundout-RBI to the pitcher from Childs tied the game at 1-1 before Goldhardt plated Mansfield on an RBI-single into right field.
 
Gannon responded with three runs off two hits in the top of the fifth, able to retake a 4-2 advantage that remained true for the remainder of the game. Hurd fanned three batters in a row with bases loaded in the top of the sixth, but run support never came. SRU succumbed to eight strikeouts from Maggie Lenda (8-8), who earned the complete-game win for GU.
 
Emma Smerick led the Golden Knights batting 2-for-3 with a double and a triple. Sadie Carroll went 1-for-2 with a team-high two RBI.
 
Gannon boasted seven of the game's 11 hits, while Slippery Rock committed both errors in the game. GU left 10 runners on base as opposed to Slippery Rock's seven.
 
UP NEXT
The Rock will celebrate Senior Day prior to a 2 p.m. first pitch Friday at Kasnevich Field when they host California (Pa.) for a PSAC West doubleheader. While there are multiple paths to a regular season championship, SRU's most direct route to clinching its first PSAC West title in program history would be by picking up at least one win over Cal.





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