Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Taylor Hoover and Stephanie Seibert each homered to account for the first homeruns in program history, as the Pitt-Johnstown softball team split a pair of games at Slippery Rock in its first PSAC road games.  After suffering an 8-1 loss in game one, Pitt-Johnstown built a four run lead, then held on for a 9-8 win in the nightcap.  Pitt-Johnstown is now 3-9 overall and 3-1 in the PSAC Western Division.
 
In the opener, Slippery Rock scored five runs over their final two at-bats to break open a two-run game on its way to the 8-1 victory.
 
The Rock jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead on Stacey Herzog's three-run homer over the center field fence, before Hoover's solo shot, also centerfield to lead off the Pitt-Johnstown fourth cut it to 3-1.
 
However, Herzog and Lauren Hawley answered with solo homeruns in the Slippery Rock fifth inning to increased it to 5-1.  The Rock then added three more in the sixth to set the final at 8-1.
 
Hoover went 1-for-3 with a homerun, while Seibert had a double for Pitt-Johnstown.  Marley Elbin, Karlie Tomich, and Melissa Wagner also had base hits in the loss.
 
Wagner took the loss in the circle for Pitt-Johnstown and fell to 1-5.  Wagner allowed five runs on six hit and struck out three over the first five innings.  Emily Moore surrendered three runs on three hits in one inning of work.
 
Herzog homered and drove in four, and Katie Kaiser had three hits and scored a pair of runs to lead The Rock. Carly DeRose gave up one run, scatter five hits, and fanned nine in a complete-game effort to improve to 3-5.
 
In game two, Pitt-Johnstown used a six-run third inning to build a 7-3 advantage, then held off a late Slippery Rock rally to earn the split with a 9-8 win.
 
Pitt-Johnstown struck first when Seibert, who led off the game with a walk, eventually scored on Tomich's ground out, but Slippery Rock evened it at one in the second on Ashley Samluck's lead-off homer.  The Rock added two more unearned runs in the frame to make it 3-1.
 
Pitt-Johnstown battled back with six runs in the fourth.  After loading the bases with one out, Seibert's double down the right field line scored Rachel Hoffman and Montana Mang to knot it at three, and Amber Maurer scored on a wild pitch two batters later to give the lead back to Pitt-Johnstown.  Another wild pitch from Slippery Rock reliever Paige Flore allowed Seibert to score.  Hoover and Mang followed with back-to-back RBI singles to close out the six-run inning and give Pitt-Johnstown a 7-3 lead.
 
Consecutive two-out doubles from Katie Kaiser and Caitlin Baxter, and an RBI single from Alaynna Beers in the Slippery Rock fourth narrowed it to 7-6.
 
Seibert connected for a two-run homer in the Pitt-Johnstown fifth to extend the lead back to three at 9-6.
 
Slippery Rock scratched out a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to cut it to 9-8.  In the seventh, Slippery Rock had runners on second and third, but Hoffman got Hawley to pop out to second and Haley Sherer was thrown out at trying to score to end the game.
 
Seibert was 2-for-3 with a homer, a double, and four RBI, and Hoover had two hits and drove in one.  Maurer had two hits, and Tomich and Mang each collected an RBI.
Hoffman pitched all seven innings to improve to 2-3.  Hoffman gave up eight runs (6 earned) on 12 hits.
 
With the split, Slippery Rock is now 5-11 overall and 2-4 in the PSAC West.
 
Pitt-Johnstown is scheduled to host a non-conference doubleheader against Wheeling Jesuit (WV) on Thursday and a PSAC doubleheader against California University (PA) on Friday.