The Slippery Rock men’s baseball team went up against Fairmont State University on Tuesday at Mylan Park. SRU came in with a 14-9 overall record, riding a three-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Fairmont State came in with a 13-11 record, fighting to stay over .500.
Early on, the Falcons took a 3-0 lead through three innings. A two-run batted in (RBI) double in the bottom of the second, and a single in the third, created an early deficit for The Rock.
The White and Green was quick to respond, breaking through in the fourth. Center fielder Luke Anderton drove in Darryn Callahan and Clay Wiesen on a single to bring the score to 3-2. Then, a big hit from Gage Gillott gave Slippery Rock the lead.
The Rock would score again in the top of the fifth. Max Bernadowski walked to eventually steal second. Wiesen hit him in with a single to left field.
SRU gave up another run in the bottom of the inning. Fairmont was still down before the White and Green dominated the remaining innings. They tacked on three more runs in the sixth, with contributions from Stone Powell on a sacrifice fly, and a home run by Michael Kitko, bringing Robinson home with him. The Rock would pile on five more runs in the seventh and eighth behind four RBIs and help from a wild pitch.
The pitching side would hold it down with contributions from Kyle Warnsman, Tyler Slone, Michael Cahill and Joey Vaniz to earn the win.
A solid outing all around pushed Slippery Rock’s winning streak to four consecutive games, with a 15-9 overall record. This win keeps the momentum going as they pick up more Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) games on Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, as they face Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The team has their first doubleheader against IUP on Friday at Owen J. Dougherty Field, to then return to Jack Critchfield Park for another doubleheader on Saturday.
The team currently sits in fourth place in the PSAC West division, but are within striking distance to move up, and have several critical matchups still upcoming on their schedule.
