Slippery Rock’s softball team began the final week of the regular season by sweeping Clarion in a non-conference doubleheader with a 2-0 win in game one followed by an 11-2 victory in game two on Tuesday.
With the victories, Slippery Rock improved its overall record to 15-16 while Clarion saw their overall record fall to 8-28 on the season.
Slippery Rock was led by Jenna Geibel, who went 5-7 at the plate with one home run, three RBI’s, and one run scored.
Teammate Katie Saluga went 5-8 at the plate with three RBI’s, three doubles, one stolen base, and three runs scored. Geibel and Saluga lead the team with 10 and nine multi hit games, respectively.
Also, Slippery Rock’s 11 runs on 18 hits in game two were the most this season in either category.
In addition, Geibel is batting .411 this season and four home runs in the last five games to move her to 10 on the season. She becomes only the third player in SRU softball history to have at least 10 home runs in one season as well as only the second player to do it multiple times.
In game one, the scoring started early as Slippery Rock got on the scoreboard early with two runs in the first inning when Saluga and Natalie Atkinson drew consecutive walks.
Then, Geibel connected on a RBI single followed by a Clarion throwing error, which scored Atkinson.
Slippery Rock pitcher Emily Lobdell earned the win while pitching four innings, giving up zero runs on five hits with two strikeouts.
In game two, the Rock had some offensive magic as runs came early and often with two runs in the first inning, one in the third inning, three in the fourth inning, one in the fifth inning, and four in the seventh inning.
The top of their lineup was on fire as they went a combined 14-23 with 10 RBI’s. Saluga and Taylor Welch both had three RBI’s each. Saluga had three hits with two being doubles while Taylor Welch went 2-4 with a double and a triple.
Also, swinging the bat well was Geibel who had a home run and two RBI’s while Brenna Tongel went 2-2 with a RBI and a walk.
Slippery Rock pitcher Shaylee Ianno (9-7) earned the win while pitching seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts. Clarion pitcher M. Daley suffered the loss while pitching four innings, giving up six runs on 10 hits with one strikeout.
Slippery Rock’s softball team had their five game winning streak snapped after being swept by Mercyhurst on the road Friday afternoon.
In game one, Slippery Rock had multiple chances to avoid the shutout but left runners on first and second with one out as well as the bases loaded in the third inning.
Mercyhurst took advantage as they scored one run in the in the first four innings to take a 4-0 lead. Slippery Rock had a golden opportunity in the seventh inning after consecutive walks to Alaynna Beers and Lobdell, but stranded both runners.
Ianno took the loss while pitching seven innings, giving up four runs on three hits with two strikeouts.
In game two, Slippery Rock jumped out to a 2-1 lead with Geibel’s solo home run in the third inning and Brenna Tongel’s RBI double in the fourth inning. They kept the lead until the sixth inning when Mercyhurst exploded for six runs, which included Megan Smith’s two run RBI double to take a 7-2 lead. Slippery Rock was never able to recover as they only managed three hits over the final two innings. Slippery Rock pitcher Ashley Knight (5-6) took the loss while pitching five innings, giving up five runs on five hits with three strikeouts.
The Green and White played against Gannon today but the game ended after the paper went to production. The Rock’s final game will be against California University of Pennsylvania tomorrow at 1 p.m.
