Rock softball could not overcome Lock Haven Sunday afternoon, dropping both contests by scores 4-3 in game one and 5-2 in game two.
Slippery Rock gave Lock Haven an early 2-0 lead in the first inning of the first game after a solo home run and a walk that brought in a run.
“We’re looking to take those losses as a learning experience,” Rock senior Katie Kaiser said. “It is important to be able to identify the reasons we did not come up with two wins, and to make improvements on those things. We hope to take what we have learned from those games to help make us better this week against Cal and Seton Hill. “
In the third inning, The Rock’s offense came alive. Senior Megan Maloney singled scoring freshmen duo Caitlyn MacKelvey and Katie Skolnick. Later in the inning Maloney stole second allowing, Kaiser to score after a throwing error by the catcher.
Lock Haven would tie the game up at three in the fifth inning. The game remained scoreless going into extra innings where Lock Haven scored the winning run on a double.
Junior pitcher Carly DeRose (4-3) took the loss after recording four strikeouts, five walks and allowing six hits.
In game two, it was Slippery Rock who jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.
Offensively, The Rock was led by senior Ashley Samluk when she drove in Kaiser on a double. Samluk then scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.
Slippery Rock held the lead at 2-1 in the third inning but lost it in the sixth by giving up three runs, resulting in the 5-2 losing decision.
Sophomore Paige Flore (3-2) took the loss going six innings giving up five hits on two strikeouts and only allowing one earned run.
After the pair of losses, Slippery Rock drops to 9-9 on the season. The team’s next matchup will be a PSAC doubleheader at home against no. 4 overall California University (Pa.) on March 25 at 2:30 p.m.
