The SRU softball team lost their final two games of the regular season in their doubleheader with Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West first-place Gannon University (27-12) on Sunday, losing the first game 10-1 and the second game 4-2 at Gannon.
The Rock lost their first two meetings with the Golden Knights this season, losing 4-3 twice in their doubleheader earlier this season. Senior pitcher Carly DeRose started her 15th game of the season in the first game as she pitched four innings, surrendering seven runs off seven hits, with a single strikeout. Junior pitcher Paige Flore stepped in for the rest of the game after DeRose left, giving up three runs on two hits and one strikeout.
SRU drew first blood when senior third baseman Cait Baxter rocked her fourth home run of the season to give The Rock a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Gannon would fire back in the second with back-to-back RBIs to give Gannon a 2-1 lead.
The Golden Knights kept their foot on the gas as they added three more runs in the third inning, two in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth inning off a three-run home run to lift Gannon to a 10-1 victory. The Rock could only muster five hits in the first game, with two of them coming from junior catcher Lauren Hawley. DeRose got credit for the loss, taking her record to 6-9 on the season.
In the second game, junior pitcher Brooke Dawson got the start on the hill for The Rock in her 20th start of the season, pitching another complete game as she gave up four runs off 10 hits with three strikeouts. The Green and White found themselves in a 2-0 hole in the first inning off two RBI singles by Gannon.
The Rock would cut the deficit in half in the fifth inning when freshman left fielder Alexa Guglielmino doubled to right center, which scored junior catcher McKenzie Garland. Gannon would answer with a run later in the fifth inning off a solo home run to give the Golden Knights a two-run lead again.
In the sixth, The Rock fired back with a solo home run of their own from Hawley to get SRU back to within one run. Gannon had different plans, however, adding an insurance run in the sixth, then holding on in the seventh to win the game 4-2. Dawson got credit for the loss to take her season record to 11-9, ending with a final 2.43 ERA.
The Green and White ended their season with a 17-24 overall record, with a 7-13 record in conference play.
