On Tuesday night, the Slippery Rock University women’s softball team closed out their regular season home schedule with a double header against Gannon University.
Like the prior two doubleheaders, SRU split the series with one win and one loss.
The Rock got off to a slow start in game one with the team batting a collective 4–24 and scoring one run.
Senior Katie Saluga, junior Emily Lobdell, senior Jenna Geibel, and sophomore Alaynna Beers were the only players with any hits during the game.
The opposing pitcher, Megan Dragon, walked no Rock players.
Gannon defeated SRU by a final score of 5–1, the Rock’s only run coming off the bat of Lobdell, scoring Beers.
Sophomore Ashley Knight is credited with the loss, bringing her record to 10–12 on the season.
Game two was an adrenaline rush for both the players as well as the fans, all the way down to the last at-bat.
Starting the game off with a show, freshman Katie Kaiser and Geibel went back-to-back with home runs, their fourth and seventh four-baggers respectively.
The scoring for SRU would resume in the bottom of the second inning, seeing four runs come across home plate for the Green and White.
Saluga batted in her first run of the game, Geibel brought in her second and junior Breanna Tongel brought home two with a double.
By the end of the fourth inning, Gannon had worked their way back into contention by tying the game at 6–6.
That tie would be short lived.
Tongel connected for a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth, her fourth home run of the year, giving the Rock a 7-6 advantage.
This lead would be wiped away in the top of the seventh inning as Caitlyn Colucci of Gannon University smashed a two run blast, giving Gannon an 8–7 lead.
The bottom of the seventh inning would be the last plate appearances for the Rock at their home field for the season.
It was also Saluga’s last home at-bat of her career, and she didn’t want to see that go to waste with her team down by a run.
With two outs, two on base, one ball and no strikes, Saluga stepped up to the plate and closed out her home career with a game winning blast. The home run was Saluga’s team leading ninth home run.
Saluga has three more home runs than her past two seasons here at SRU combined.
“I accredit my offense this season to a couple of things. I have an amazing father who worked with me extra hours when I went home to make sure I was where I wanted to be offensively,” Saluga said about her explosive season at the plate. “I feel like I did succeed at the best of my abilities at SRU. I wouldn’t change a thing about my career here.”
In addition to the home run hitters in the game, Beers went 3–4 at the plate, as well as junior Lindsey Kelenske who went 2–3.
Lobdell earned the win, pitching all seven innings and throwing three strikeouts.
Her record now sits at 6-5.
On Monday, Slippery Rock welcomed the Lady Scots from Edinboro for another PSAC-West matchup, their last double header against each other for the season.
Game one was a pitching train-wreck for Edinboro and a season highlight for SRU.
The Rock trounced Edinboro by a score of 11–1.
Knight earned the victory giving up only five hits, one run and striking out five batters.
With no home runs in the game for either team, SRU had to be quick on the bases to earn their 11 runs.
Saluga and Kaiser each went 4–5 at the plate, Kaiser earning four RBIs. Saluga and Tongel each contributed two RBIs, while Geibel and freshman Ashley Samluk each tallied one RBI of their own in the offensive gem.
Game two saw the bats of SRU go nearly silent as Edinboro put together a few hits and defeated the Rock 4–2.
Tongel went deep for her fourth home run of the season, going one for two at the plate.
Saluga and Kaiser both went .500 at the plate, hitting 2–4.
The Rock’s only runs in the game came from Tongel’s home run and a throwing error in the sixth where Kaiser crossed home to score.
Despite striking out six batters, Lobdell was credited with the loss in the second game.
Edinboro shut out the Rock in game one to finish the game off with a score of 6–0.
SRU collected only four hits, coming off the bats of Saluga, Lobdell, and freshman Megan Maloney.
Knight was credited with the loss, giving up six runs, two of which being earned.
Slippery Rock rolled over Edinboro in the second game of the double-header by a score of 6-1.
Defensively, the Rock’s defensive performance was highlighted by Lobdell’s complete game win, featuring only three hits, one run and five strikeouts.
Offensively SRU looked like a new team compared to their game one performance.
Ten hits, six runs, and two home runs; Slippery Rock obliterated the opposing pitchers.
The home runs came launching off the bats of Saluga and Tongel, their eighth and third round-trippers respectively.
The doubleheader with Ursuline College scheduled for Thursday has been cancelled.
The Green and White will head to California University of Pa. on Friday for a PSAC-matchup.
