Slippery Rock baseball opened their 2025 season with a doubleheader victory against Kutztown University in Cary, North Carolina at the USA Baseball Training Complex on Friday.
The Rock carried to a 9-1 victory in the first game followed by a 9-5 win in game two.
Tyler Cerame led the charge by racking up a total of three runs in the first game and two runs in the second game. The senior infielder beat his game-high by one, having a high of two runs in a game last season.
Two new names got added to The Rock’s roster this season, Jimmy Sadler and Treston Nemeth, both transfer students. Sadler came in from West Virginia University and Nemeth from the University of Dayton.
Sadler tallied two stolen bases, two runs batted in (RBI), and one run throughout the night. Nemeth had three hits, two runs, and 21 putouts between both games.
Game One
The White and Green were first at-bat and first to put runs on the board when Michael Kitko walked, sending Nemeth to second, Cerame to third, and Joe Purcell crossing home plate. With bases loaded, Cerame was second to make a run for The Rock after grounding a double to shortstop.
SRU went into the bottom of the first with a two-run lead. Kutztown was able to send one home after Jimmy Karley hit one out to right field in a sacrifice fly, sending Bo Barthol home.
Three innings went by before another run was scored by Cerame after he homered it to left field in the top of the fifth, his first home run for The Rock.
The bottom of the fifth ended with two players on base for the Golden Bears, but came up empty.
In the top of the sixth, Slippery Rock added seven runs to their scoreboard, securing their spot in the lead. With Jimmy Sadler on first, Robert Herr sent a ball to left field sending Sadler home and getting on first himself. Herr advanced to second after Joe Purcell walked.
A single to left-center delivered by Cerame allowed Purcell to advance to third and Herr scored a run. Cerame and Purcell were also sent home after Kitko hit a double.
With Nemeth on third and Kitko on second, they both scored after Morris singled it to the right side. The game ended 9-1 with a victory for SRU.
Game Two
Kutztown was first to put more runs on the board this time, scoring three back-to-back at the top of the first.
Barthol walked after getting hit by a pitch and he stole second. He was able to take third after Nick Varda singled it to shortstop. A passed ball gave Barthol the chance to come home.
Varda scored after Jimmy Kerley smacked a double to center field. Kerley secured a run when Dalton Furst doubled.
The Rock was able to knock in two runs at the bottom of the second from Purcell and Cerame, but they trailed behind the Golden Bears for three innings. Kutztown tallied another run in the top of the third delivered by Furst, and SRU got one in the bottom of the fourth by Brandon Butler.
The White and Green started coming back in the bottom of the fifth with bases loaded when Gage Gillott stepped up to bat. His walk sent Cerame home to tie them with Kutztown 4-4. The next three runs came in from Nemeth, Kitko, and Butler, all unearned, putting SRU in the lead 9-4.
Kutztown was able to put one more run on the board in the top of the seventh, but their efforts were not enough to take back the lead.
The doubleheader ended with a 9-5 victory for Slippery Rock.
SRU completed the Cary Challenge on Saturday with a loss against Frostburg State University and a win against Goldey-Beacom College on Sunday.
The team will go on to play Shippensburg University on Friday at Fairchild Field.
