On Wednesday, the SRU women’s softball team swept Clarion University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Confercene-West division doubleheader. The two victories bring Slippery Rock’s overall record to 13–15.
The first game saw the Rock trail by two runs from the second inning until the seventh inning.
Junior Lindsey Kelenske led off the inning with a base hit as a pinch hitter.
Freshman Megan Maloney then beat out an infield single to get two runners on with no outs.
Senior Katie Saluga then connected for a base hit, scoring freshman Sarah Lutz who replaced Kelenske on the bases.
Junior Emily Lobdell advanced the runners on a sacrifice bunt followed by freshman Katie Kaiser recording an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Kaiser would bat in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory for the Rock. She earned two of the Green and White’s three RBI’s in the game and Saluga reached base in all of her at-bats with three walks and two hits.
Sophomore Ashley Knight earned the victory for SRU with a complete game performance, highlighted by 13 strikeouts.
“I love pitching, so I have accepted pitching so much because that is what my team needs from me,” Knight said. “We are working for wins and if that means me pitching more, that is what I do. My philosophy while pitching is to stay focused for seven innings and have fun while doing it.”
The action in game two was kicked off in the second inning behind a solo home run from senior Jenna Geibel, her sixth of the season. Clarion then tied the score 1–1 in the top of the fifth inning. Geibel would again connect for a hit in the sixth inning with a double, then replaced by Lutz to run the bases.
Lutz would touch home soon after behind a game-winning double by sophomore Taylor Welch.
Geibel went 3–3 in the game, tallying two doubles and a home run.
Lobdell earned the second complete game win for the Green and White in the same day, allowing only one earned run.
Last Sunday, SRU faced the Lady Lakers of Mercyhurst University.
In the first game, the Rock got off to a 1-0 deficit early in the game behind a home run off the bat of Kristen Fyffe from Mercyhurst. The Rock tied the game up in the top of a fourth behind an RBI groundout by junior Breanna Tongel, scoring Kaiser.
Mercyhurst would score two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to secure the victory by a score of 3–1. Knight was credited with the loss.
Game two featured eight hits and eight runs coming off the bats of the Green and White. Geibel hit her fifth home run of the season in the top of the first giving the Rock a two run lead.
By Matthew Morgan
Rocket Contributor
On Wednesday, the SRU women’s softball team swept Clarion University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Confercene-West division doubleheader. The two victories bring Slippery Rock’s overall record to 13–15.
The first game saw the Rock trail by two runs from the second inning until the seventh inning.
Junior Lindsey Kelenske led off the inning with a base hit as a pinch hitter.
Freshman Megan Maloney then beat out an infield single to get two runners on with no outs.
Senior Katie Saluga then connected for a base hit, scoring freshman Sarah Lutz who replaced Kelenske on the bases.
Junior Emily Lobdell advanced the runners on a sacrifice bunt followed by freshman Katie Kaiser recording an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Kaiser would bat in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory for the Rock. She earned two of the Green and White’s three RBI’s in the game and Saluga reached base in all of her at-bats with three walks and two hits.
Sophomore Ashley Knight earned the victory for SRU with a complete game performance, highlighted by 13 strikeouts.
“I love pitching, so I have accepted pitching so much because that is what my team needs from me,” Knight said. “We are working for wins and if that means me pitching more, that is what I do. My philosophy while pitching is to stay focused for seven innings and have fun while doing it.”
The action in game two was kicked off in the second inning behind a solo home run from senior Jenna Geibel, her sixth of the season. Clarion then tied the score 1–1 in the top of the fifth inning. Geibel would again connect for a hit in the sixth inning with a double, then replaced by Lutz to run the bases.
Lutz would touch home soon after behind a game-winning double by sophomore Taylor Welch.
Geibel went 3–3 in the game, tallying two doubles and a home run.
Lobdell earned the second complete game win for the Green and White in the same day, allowing only one earned run.
Last Sunday, SRU faced the Lady Lakers of Mercyhurst University.
In the first game, the Rock got off to a 1-0 deficit early in the game behind a home run off the bat of Kristen Fyffe from Mercyhurst. The Rock tied the game up in the top of a fourth behind an RBI groundout by junior Breanna Tongel, scoring Kaiser.
Mercyhurst would score two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to secure the victory by a score of 3–1. Knight was credited with the loss.
Game two featured eight hits and eight runs coming off the bats of the Green and White. Geibel hit her fifth home run of the season in the top of the first giving the Rock a two run lead.
Mercyhurst tied the game in the bottom of the third with a double, bringing in two RBIs.
The top of the fourth featured a five run inning for the Rock, highlighted with a home run off the bat of Tongel and a grand slam from Saluga, her seventh home run of the season.
Knight was credited with the victory for the Rock, bringing her record to 8–10. Lobdell also contributed to the victory with four innings of work and gave up no runs.
Geibel is in pursuit of the homerun record here at SRU, trailing alumni Jessica Kortz’s record of 40 home runs by eight currently.
“I just want to get a hit,” Geibel said about her approach to the plate. “I’m not trying to hit a homerun. Homeruns just happen, and when they do its awesome.”
On Tuesday, the Rock was scheduled to face off against Edinboro University in a PSAC-West doubleheader. These games have been postponed until Sunday due to weather. This is the third time these games have been postponed.
The Rock will welcome Edinboro University Friday for a PSAC-West doubleheader and then Shippensburg University on Saturday afternoon for a non-conference doubleheader.
