The Rock had an incredible weekend, winning all four games against University of Pitt-Johnstown on Friday and Saturday.
This marked the start of conference play, where they are now tied for first in the PSAC-West.
SRU played well offensively, but the stellar performances from the pitching staff shined brightest.
Nate Malak started off the series by throwing a complete game shutout. He only gave up four hits and struck out nine in his start.
As a whole, Rock pitching posted a whopping 36 strikeouts across the entire series.
Tyler Cerame and Cam Panyko Morris both crushed home runs on Saturday evening. Cerame now leads the team in homers on the season.
Game one
Slippery Rock outplayed the Mountain Cats in a pitching duel, defeating them 1-0.
Brandon Butler poked a single to right field in the second inning, scoring Gage Gillot, which would end up being the only run scored in the game for either team.
From then on, the game was highlighted by defense. Malak went on to pitch all seven innings. On the other hand, Aiden Coleman pitched six innings for UPJ, only allowing that one earned run.
The Green and White ran into a little trouble in the fifth. A ground out allowed a runner to advance to second, but it was ultimately shut down by a fly ball that was caught in right field.
Game two
The Rock had a strong start in game two, putting up three runs on three hits in the first inning to give them the lead 3-0.
Clay Wiesen walked to load the bases in the fourth. Michael Kitko then bashed a long double, clearing the bases and breaking the game wide open to make it 6-0.
Hunter Loomis threw four scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Loomis was pulled from the game after a bases loaded walk and replaced with Mark Wilbur.
Pitt-Johnstown plated two more runs before the inning ended, cutting the lead down to three for SRU.
Wilbur finished off the game strong, throwing two more scoreless innings to end the game 6-3 in favor of the Rock.
Game three
Joe Purcell and the offense shined in an 8-4 thriller, securing the series win for SRU.
Purcell pitched six innings, only surrendering two runs to the mountain cats.
Slippery Rock scored at least one run in each of the first five innings. The scoring was started off by a sacrifice fly from Jimmy Sadler.
UPJ quickly answered back with a solo shot to left in the first inning.
Treston Nemeth launched a 2-run blast in the third inning, making the score 6-1.
The Rock added two more runs in the next two innings to go up 8-1.
Pitt-Johnstown scored three runs before their comeback efforts were cut short, ending the game 8-4.
Game four
Ethan Edkins recorded a team-high of 11 strikeouts in SRU’s 3-2 victory.
The scoring was started with a lead-off homer from Panyko Morris in the third inning, grabbing the 1-0 lead.
A throwing error by the Rock set up Pitt-Johnstown for a sacrifice fly, knotting the game up at one in the bottom half of the inning.
Morris came to the rescue again, doubling to right field, allowing two runs to come across home plate in the sixth inning.
Down 3-1, Pitt-Johnstown made another comeback effort in the bottom half of the inning. Edkins started to run into trouble, allowing a double, which scored a run for UPJ, bringing the game to 3-2.
Joey Vanzin came in and allowed a walk and a wild pitch, putting runners on first and third, though he was able to escape the jam by striking out the next batter to end the inning.
Vanzin ended the game by throwing a 1-2-3 seventh inning, earning a save.
Slippery Rock will continue conference play this upcoming weekend against Indiana University (Pa.). IUP was swept this weekend in their 4-game series, so The Rock will look to take advantage and maintain their lead in the standings.
