Slippery Rock baseball played a tight three-game set at Shippensburg University, losing two and winning one, last Friday and Saturday.
All three White and Green starting pitchers put up good numbers. Each starter went over five innings and allowed two or fewer earned runs.
The Rock outhit the Raiders in all three games despite falling in the first two. Over the course of the series, SRU outhit their foe 22-16.
Brandon Butler tallied at least one hit in each game, leading The Rock with four hits for the weekend series.
Game one
Gage Gillott, The Rock’s game one starter, tossed four clean innings before some trouble in the bottom of the fifth marked his, and SRU’s, 2-1 defeat.
A walk and a single set up the Raiders for a key double steal with no outs during the frame. With two runners in scoring position, all it took was a groundout and a bunt to bring in two runs. It was all the offense Shippensburg would need.
The White and Green immediately punched back in the top of the sixth and threatened to tie the game at two, but left two runners in scoring position after scoring one run on an RBI single by Butler.
The Raiders had another good setup in the bottom of the sixth following a leadoff double and a walk, but Gillott navigated through the frame without allowing any damage on the scoreboard.
SRU had opportunities with multiple runners on base in the seventh and ninth innings, but nothing came to pass.
Hunter Loomis followed Gillott out of the bullpen and tossed two scoreless innings. Joe Purcell and Butler each collected two hits.
Game two
The Rock jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in game two, but were ultimately undone by unearned runs in later frames.
Tyler Cerame and Treston Nemeth both singled in the top of the first, but the White and Green would have to wait a little longer for their first score.
Cam Panyko Morris brought instant offense in the top of the second inning with a solo shot to left field. Purcell followed the opening score with a 1-2-3 bottom of the second before three singles, a hit-by-pitch and a stolen base gave SRU a 3-0 lead in the top of the third.
Purcell kept pitching a clean game until the bottom of the fifth got a little muddy. A leadoff walk preceded two hits and two fielding errors that allowed the Raiders to knot the game up at three. The bottom of the next frame followed a similar script when a leadoff triple, fielding error and a single catalyzed a three-run inning for Shippensburg.
The 6-3 score held after a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.
Game three
Nate Malak and Purcell came up big in the final game of the series to lift SRU back above .500 via a 5-3 win. Malak twirled 5.1 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit while striking out six. Purcell capitalized on a third-inning rally when he clubbed a two-run homer to left.
The scoring started in the top of the third when Morris hit a leadoff double before Clay Wiesen knocked him in with a single. Wiesen came around to score on Purcell’s home run.
Slippery Rock added to their three-run lead in the top of the fifth when back-to-back walks both crossed the plate following a sacrifice fly and an error.
Down 5-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Shippensburg fought back with a trio of singles and a walk to score two runs. Their third single of the inning capitalized on a fielder’s choice error. The Raiders brought another run across with a sacrifice fly, but their comeback bid ended there and Michael Kitko tallied the save.
Now at 4-3, The Rock has eight games left on their schedule to prepare for conference games. SRU baseball returns to action this Friday at West Virginia State University for another three-game series that will conclude on Sunday.
