BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Slippery softball team fell in its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament opener against East Stroudsburg University, 18-6, Wednesday night at Grand Slam Park.
With the loss, Slippery Rock fell to 26-19 on the season, while East Improved to 34-17 on the year.
The Rock are set to play 10 a.m. Thursday against Clarion in a must-win scenario, with the losing team's season coming to an end.
The Warriors are headed for a matchup between the winner of Kutztown University and West Chester University.
ESU opened the scoring early with four runs in the first inning and eight runs by the third.
In the bottom of the third, Slippery Rock got on the board.
Jordyn Pelles started the inning with a walk before
Addie Deal roped a one-out double, moving Pelles to third in the process.
Aubrey Mansfield sent a sacrifice fly to right field, making the score 8-1 East Stroudsburg.
The Warriors added two more runs in the fourth and the fifth innings.
The Rock kickstarted a four-run rally in the bottom of the fifth.
Maddie Cavenaugh extended her on-base streak to 24 consecutive games with her fourth triple of the season to leadoff the inning. Deal picked up an RBI with a sacrifice fly. Mansfield followed up Deal with a single, knocking out one of the best starting pitchers in Division II, Sarah Davenport (21-8), out of the game.
Alyssa Sheely and
Grace Smith each singled with one batter in between to score a run as Smith earned an RBI.
Shaylyn Shall then walked to load the bases before
Sydney Brown picked up a two-RBI single, scoring Sheely and Smith. The Rock re-loaded the bases with Pelles' walk, but were unable to come up with another two-out base hit.
After holding ESU still for the first time in the sixth inning, SRU tacked on another run. Deal kicked off the inning with a double and moved to third on Mansfield's groundout. Sheely earned her third hit of the game with an RBI-single, cutting the Warriors lead to 12-6.
East Stroudsburg added on six runs in the seventh before shutting the door on The Rock, closing out an 18-6 victory.
Offensively, Sheely paced Slippery Rock going 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Deal also picked up multiple hits for SRU with a 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Five other Slippery Rock players notched one hit. Smith and
Alyssa Massucci each went 1-for-3 as Smith also earned one RBI, while Cavenaugh finished 1-for-5 with one run and Mansfield ended the game 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Brown had SRU's final hit in a 1-for-1 showing with two RBIs.
In the circle,
Rachel Baker (14-8) took the loss for Slippery Rock after pitching 2.1 innings and giving up eight runs (six earned) on seven hits and one walk with two strikeouts.
Paige Gresgott came in the game in relief of Baker, going 1.2 innings and surrendering two runs on two hits and three walks with one strikeout.
Kayla Williams finished the game for SRU after going three innings and giving up eight runs (five earned) on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
Davenport earned the win for East Stroudsburg after pitching 4.1 innings and surrendering three runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
This was just the seventh time all season that Davenport had been tagged with three or more earned runs in 30 appearances.
Tessa Guenette finished the game after pitching 2.2 innings and giving up five three runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
Slippery Rock fights for its season in a 10 a.m. Thursday matchup against Clarion at Grand Slam Park in Binghamton, New York. The Rock must win three consecutive games Thursday to keep its season alive.
Earlier this season, SRU took down Clarion 11-3 and 18-9 at Kasnevich Field before the Golden Eagles snuck in the tournament with two wins over The Rock, 5-4 and 11-10, at Memorial Stadium. With a win against Clarion, SRU will play the loser between Kutztown and West Chester.
To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official Athletic Communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).
