QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team kept itself in the winners' bracket of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament as Alexsa Hurd produced one home run and 11 strikeouts in a 5-4 win over No. 18 Kutztown University Thursday in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.
 
Hurd's first-inning home run marked the 187^th hit of her career, breaking Slippery Rock's all-time hits record. Her 11 strikeouts in the opening 6.0 innings lifted her to a 17-5 pitching record on the year, also giving her a school-record 40^th victory.
 
The Rock will play again 10 a.m. Friday against No. 11 East Stroudsburg University, the only other team to start 2-0 in the PSAC Tournament. The Golden Bears drop to the elimination bracket where they will have to play again Thursday afternoon to keep their playoff hopes alive.
 
SRU's victory moves the team's overall record to 29-19, tying the team's single-season wins record set two years ago. The Golden Bears fall to 38-15 on the year.
 
Prior to Thursday, Slippery Rock and Kutztown had never faced one another in the PSAC Tournament. The 5-4 decision is Slippery Rock's first program win over Kutztown since 2017. SRU also earned its first win over a nationally ranked opponent since 2016.
 
Hurd's home run headlined a 1-for-4 day with one RBI. Arielle Brown and Shaylyn Shall both went 1-for-4 with two RBI apiece, while Naomi Childs led the team batting 2-for-3. Aubrey Mansfield (1-for-2) and Julia Nutter (1-for-3) rounded out Slippery Rock's hitting. Jeanna Sukey and Jessica Goldhardt each scored one run.
 
Paige Gresgott (7-9, 2) earned the save after relieving Hurd for the final 1.0 inning of the game. She allowed no hits through the final three at-bats.
 
Hurd gave Slippery Rock an early 1-0 lead with a solo shot on a 2-0 count in the top of the first. Neither side scored again until Kutztown found a tying run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Golden Bears knotted things up at 1-1 on a two-out double and an RBI-single.
 
Just as they did on day one, The Rock responded quickly. Slippery Rock found two runs in the top of the fifth on an RBI-double from Shall that dropped in left-center field for a 3-1 edge.
 
Kutztown scored two more runs to tie the game at 3-3 on three hits including a solo home run and an RBI-double. The Golden Bears looked to be able to take a lead on a wild pitch, but Kennedy and Hurd worked together to get the runner out at home.
 
SRU gained a 5-3 lead in a massive sixth inning outpouring that came with four hits. Mansfield, Nutter and Childs all singled to get on base, and Brown brought two runs home on a two-out knock into centerfield. KU left two on base with no runs to show for in the bottom of the sixth but retired The Rock in a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.
 
Kutztown threatened to walk Slippery Rock off in the bottom of the seventh once it shaved the lead to 5-4 on an RBI-groundout. The Golden Bears had runners on the corners with two outs but a popout to Brown secured the nail-biting victory for The Rock.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game with seven hits, no errors and six runners left on, while Kutztown fell out of the winners' bracket with 11 hits, one error and eight left on.
 
Natalee Harvey (5-5) tossed four strikeouts in the 5.1-inning loss before Haley Gravish pitched the final 1.2 frames for KU with one strikeout. Naya Darnowski went 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI, while Sarah Harvat went 2-for-4 with a double.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock will play for a spot in the PSAC Tournament Championship game 10 a.m. Friday against No. 11 East Stroudsburg. The title game will be contested at 11 a.m. Saturday with an if-necessary game kicking off at about 1:30 p.m. if the undefeated team loses.
 
A loss to ESU would require The Rock to play at 3 p.m. Friday in the elimination bracket. SRU would play the winner of Game 16 in that game, with the winner advancing to the championship round and the loser finishing third in the PSAC Tournament.





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