After dropping two games to Pitt-Johnstown on Friday, Slippery Rock dealt the Mountain Cats 2-1 and 9-6 setbacks to split the PSAC Western Division series, Saturday afternoon in Slippery Rock.
Tyler Smith belted a solo homer in the opener, and
Matt Reese had three hits in the nightcap for the Mountain Cats, now 15-13 overall and 11-9 in conference-play.
Koby Bubash's two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the second put Slippery Ron on top, 2-0.
Pitt-Johnstown got a run back in the top of the sixth on Smith's one-out solo homer to left field, but that's was as close as the Mountain Cats could get.
Slippery Rock's Andy McClymonds was able to work out of a seventh-inning jam to finish the complete-game and improve to 4-0. McClymonds allowed just one run on eight hits, while striking out four and walking none.
Owen McKeever went 3-for-three, and Smith added two hits, including a solo homer to pace Pitt-Johnstown.
Wil Fetrow took the loss and slipped to 1-3 after giving up just two runs on five hits in six innings. Fetrow fanned three and didn't allow a walk.
In game two, Pitt-Johnstown and Slippery Rock combined to scored 13 first inning runs, but the Rock added three more runs and went on to the 9-6 victory.
Pitt-Johnstown jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first off of Slippery Rock starter J.T. Wolke. McKeever singled and scored on a wild pitch to start the scoring, and Smith,
Chase Vargo, and
Jake Ansell all drove in runs to make it 4-0. With two outs, Vargo and Ansell scored on
Colin Pasone's base hit to make it 6-0.
Two-run singles from Evan Knaus and Luke Trueman highlighted a seven run bottom of the first for Slippery Rock that put the Rock on top, 7-6. The Rock scored six off of Pitt-Johnstown starter
Ben Briggs and one off of reliever
Raymond Watt.
A pair of bases loaded wild pitches in the bottom of the second increased Slippery Rock's lead to 9-6, and Travis Hohman did the rest on the mound for the Rock. Hohman held Pitt-Johnstown scoreless on three hits over the final 6.2 innings. Hohman struck out nine and walked two.
Watt took the loss in relief of Briggs and fell to 0-1 after giving up three runs (1 earned) on three hits, while striking out six in three innings.
Brady Walker pitched the final three innings and didn't allow a run on just one hit. Walker struck out six and walked one.
Reese went 3-for-4 with a run, and Pasone had a hit and two RBI for the Mountain Cats. Smith, Vargo, and Ansell also drove in a run each.
With the sweep, Slippery Rock split the four-game series and is now 16-7 overall and 7-5 in the PSAC West.
Pitt-Johnstown travels to Gannon to open a four-game home-and-home PSAC series on Friday, before concluding the series against the Golden Knights on Saturday at Sargent's Stadium at the Point.
