By Aidan Treu and Noelle Paratore
Rock softball entered this week with a tough road ahead, seeing three twin bills and a make-up game on the schedule from Monday to Friday.
First doubleheader
The Rock opened their week against the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown where they split a pair of lopsided games with the Mountain Cats on Monday.
Alexsa Hurd and company showed up big in game one en route to a 9-0 victory. Hurd tossed six innings of shutout ball, striking out 11 batters and allowing just two hits over the course of 101 pitches.
The senior started the game with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 first inning before SRU got some traffic on the bases in the bottom of the first. Arielle Brown and Hurd both singled and swiped a bag but neither found their way home.
UPJ got some baserunners of their own via free passes in the top of the second, but also stayed off the scoreboard before Mountain Cats’ starter Mia Smith and Hurd each coerced 1-2-3 innings.
The White and Green broke the scoring drought in the bottom of the third inning after Alyssa Sheely singled, Arielle Brown doubled and the former scored on a passed ball. The tally would end up as the winning run but SRU was far from done scoring.
Shaylyn Shall delivered an RBI knock to score Arielle Brown, opening up a 2-0 lead after three innings of play.
Hurd then coaxed another 1-2-3 inning, her third in four innings, before Slippery Rock tripled their run total. Emma Kennedy singled to right center to get the inning going before Sydney Brown and Arielle Brown both recorded hits with the latter being a two-run double. Shall delivered the dagger in the next at bat with a two-run home run, extending The Rock’s lead to six.
The game was relatively quiet, save for two scattered singles by the Mountain Cats until the bottom of the sixth, where singles by Sheely, Arielle Brown and Shall set up Hurd with runners on second and third and a run already in. Hurd clubbed a double to left center, bringing in two runs and bringing the mercy rule into play.
Arielle Brown’s four hits led the way in game one with Shall, Hurd and Sheely all recording multiple hits as well. Shall had four RBIs while Arielle Brown and Hurd both had two.
Game two of the doubleheader went similarly, but with the other guys coming out on top.
UPJ got the scoring started early and never looked back. Two walks and an error loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first. Kayla Williams nearly escaped the jam from the circle, but a Jessica Pugh double cleared the bases, giving The Mountain Cats a 3-0 lead.
The top of the third brought more trouble for The Rock, as a walk and a double allowed another run to score before three singles in the top of the next frame let in another run.
The top of the fifth though, is what sent SRU down as UPJ brought in five more runs, opening up a 10-0 lead that would invoke the mercy rule after The Rock did not score in the bottom of the inning.
The White and Green had at least one hit in every inning, but could not string enough runners together to match the Mountain Cats’ output.
Despite the tough loss, the earlier win and some help from Indiana University (Pa.) brought The Rock good news as they clinched their third straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament berth.
Second doubleheader
Despite the Crimson Hawks helping SRU clinch the playoffs on Monday, there were no thanks given from The Rock to their rival on the scoreboard on Tuesday, as the White and Green took both games of their away doubleheader.
Slippery Rock combined for 15 runs across their 14 innings of play.
Kennedy got the game one scoring started with a top of the second, two-run home run after a Julia Nutter walk. Arielle Brown then doubled and was scored by a Shall single to give The Rock a 3-0 lead.
IUP punched back in the bottom of the third, scoring five runs on five hits and forcing the White and Green into a comeback situation. The Rock chipped away with a run in the top of the fourth, but it was the top of the fifth where they regained the lead on another two-run homer, this time courtesy of Nutter.
A walk and double in the bottom of the frame knotted things up at six, but a Julia Montie solo shot and a Kennedy single gave Slippery Rock an 8-6 lead that would hold.
The Rock tallied 14 hits in the contest with each of Arielle Brown, Aubrey Mansfield, Montie, Nutter, Kennedy and Sydney Brown having multi-hit performances. Hurd tossed a complete game from the circle, striking out eight.
In game two, it was the Crimson Hawks mounting a comeback bid, but The Rock held them off to the tune of a 7-4 victory.
Slippery Rock scored once in the first and once in the third on a sacrifice fly from Montie and a double by Hurd. They extended their lead to three by the sixth inning after trading runs with IUP in the fifth.
The Crimson Hawks tied the game at four apiece in the bottom of the sixth, but the White and Green responded with three runs of their own in the top of the seventh to open up a 7-4 lead that lasted the rest of the way.
Shall and Hurd both had three-hit games while the latter posted an impressive five RBI on seven total bases.
This time it was Paige Gresgott going through all seven innings, striking out six and allowing four runs to score.
Make-up game against Gannon
It was a slow start for both teams on Thursday. Gannon University was first to put a run on the scoreboard after a player crossed home unearned.
The first three frames remained scoreless for The Rock. It was not until the bottom of the fourth that they got two runs off and took the lead when Julia Montie scored on an advancement as well as Aubrey Mansfield.
The Golden Knights did not put up any more runs until the top of the fifth when a single to middle field allowed two of their runners to come home. Another runner took the opportunity to cross home after a double to center field.
The White and Green attempted to bring it back, but their efforts fell short, leaving two batters on base in three innings.
The Rock finishes off their weekday gauntlet with a doubleheader against California University (Pa.) tomorrow.
