SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team was swept by Shippensburg University in a non-conference doubleheader Friday at Critchfield Park.
 
The Raiders earned the two wins with 5-0 and 7-5 victories. The losses move The Rock's record to 3-2 on the year, while the visiting Raiders improve to 6-2.
 
Slippery Rock was led in the doubleheader by Gage Gillott, who went a combined 3-for-6 over the two games with one run scored and two walks. Stone Powell also had hits in both games Friday as well as one run, one RBI and a walk.
 
Gillott and Powell are both 6-for-15 in the first five games of 2026. The duo also have eight combined walks for respective on-base percentages of .591 and .526.

GAME 1: SHIP 5 – SRU 0
W: Conner Barto (2-0)
L: Nate Malak (1-1)
 
Shippensburg opened the day with a 5-0 shutout of The Rock in game one behind a complete-game effort from Conner Barto.
 
Slippery Rock had its chances to get to Barto in virtually every inning, but the Raiders' top starter was ultimately able to work around five Rock hits and three walks on the way to stranding seven baserunners for the victory.
 
Offensively, Shippensburg plated one run in the second to go with a pair of two-run frames in the third and sixth innings.
 
Rock starting pitcher Nate Malak went five innings, giving up three runs – two being earned – on seven hits and two walks alongside five strikeouts.
 
Michael Cahill made his second appearance of the season out of the SRU bullpen, recording two outs and surrendering two runs on three hits and two hit batters. Freshman Nolan Comerford made his collegiate debut when he came on for Cahill in the sixth with two outs and the bases loaded. Comerford registered a strikeout to get out of the jam before throwing a scoreless seventh inning.
 
Offensively, Gillott went 2-for-4 to pace SRU's batters. Powell and Brett Galcik also reached base twice, with matching 1-for-2, one-walk performances. Michael Kitko (1-for-3) and Jake Robinson (one walk) rounded out The Rock's top performers.
 
AJ Wenrich went 1-for-3 with one run, one home run and two RBIs in leading Shippensburg.

GAME TWO: SHIP 7 – SRU 5
W: Brady Kain (1-1)
L: Joey Vanzin (0-1)
S: Jack Robinson (2)
 
An explosive start to game two was not enough for The Rock to salvage a doubleheader split as the Raiders rallied to score runs in four of the final six innings while a duo of Shippensburg relievers stymied SRU's bats in a 7-5 win.
 
Slippery Rock could not have asked for a batter start to the nightcap after it scored five runs in a first inning in which it sent 12 batters to the plate.
 
Gillott, Robinson, Powell and Treston Nemeth registered consecutive singles to start the frame, with Powell and Nemeth both earning RBIs for The Rock's first runs of the afternoon.
 
The hit parade continued courtesy of back-to-back doubles by Darryn Callahan and Luke Anderton. The Anderton extra-base hit cleared the bases, giving SRU an early 5-0 lead. Slippery Rock had two more batters reach base via a Max Bernadowski single and a Gillott walk before Shippensburg starting pitcher Bryce Amos could get out of the inning.
 
However, the first inning turned out to be the high point of the contest for Slippery Rock, which was held without a hit for the final six innings.
 
Reliever Brady Kain came on for Amos in the second and went on to throw five shutout innings that included 10 strikeouts.
 
With Kain on the mound, Shippensburg mounted its comeback by scoring six runs over a three-inning stretch against Kitko and SRU reliever Joey Vanzin to take a 6-5 lead after four innings of play.
 
The Raiders went on to score an additional insurance run in the seventh before SU closer Jack Robinson worked around a one-out Gillott walk in the bottom of the inning to finish off a two-run victory.
 
Gillott went 1-for-2 with one run and two walks in game two. Anderton was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a double. Robinson, Powell, Nemeth, Callahan and Bernadowski all had one-hit games as well.
 
Kitko pitched three innings in his second start of the season, striking out four and giving up four runs on five hits and two walks. Vanzin pitched the final four innings with three runs yielded (only one being earned) to go with a career-high nine strikeouts.
 
Will Oates was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBIs and one walk for Shippensburg.  
 
Slippery Rock and Shippensburg close out their four-game weekend series with another doubleheader Saturday at Critchfield Park. Game one is set for a 1 p.m. start.
 




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