Taylor Squiric struck out seven in 3.2 innings in relief,
Garrett Prosper homered, and
Justin Turcovski drove in two to help the Pitt-Johnstown baseball team the secure a split with 18
th-ranked Slippery Rock in Friday's second game of a PSAC West doubleheader in Slippery Rock. The Mountain Cats, 17-23-1 overall and 5-17 in conference-play, suffered a 12-0 lost in the opener.
In game one, Slippery Rock struck for four first inning runs off of Mountain Cat starter
Rodney Shultz. Alex Robenolt connected for a three-run homer, before Koby Bubash delivered a two-out ground-rule RBI double.
The Rock added single runs in the second and third innings, and two more in the fourth to make it 8-0 on Connor Hamilton's solo home run to left and Eddie Morris' RBI double.
Two-run doubles from Robenolt and Colin Cain off of Mountain Cat reliever
Brando Souders in the Slippery rock half of the sixth set the final at 12-0.
Colin Pasone doubled in the sixth, and
Mario Disso, Turcovski, and
Tyler Smith all had hits for Pitt-Johnstown.
Shultz took the loss and fell to 3-3. Shultz tossed the first four innings and surrendered eight runs on 11 hits, while striking out a pair and walking one. Souders allowed four runs on three hits over the final two innings.
Robenolt went 3-for-4 with a homer and five RBI, while Hamilton, Morris, and Bubash all had two hits, including a double and an RBI for the Rock.
Slippery Rock got a complete-game shutout from Devin Dunn, who improved to 8-1. Dunn scattered four hits, struck out five, and walked one.
In game two, the Mountain Cats took an early 1-0 first inning lead off of Rock starter Luke Trueman. Disso singled with one out, moved to second on
Dylan Broderick's ground out,
and scored on an
Asher Corl single to center.
Pitt-Johnstown added three more in the second to build a 4-0 advantage. Turcovski's two-run triple to center scored
Josh Reynolds and Prosper, and Disso's double down the left field line chased home Turcovski.
An unearned run in the bottom of the second off of Pitt-Johnstown starter
Seth Shuey got the Rock on the scoreboard, and Hamilton's two-run homer in the third cut it to 4-3.
Prosper's lead-off homer in the Mountain Cat sixth got the lead back out to two at 5-3.
Slippery Rock scored a run in the bottom of the seventh, but Squiric was able to get Evan Knaus to line into a game-ending double play that gave the Mountain Cats the split with the 5-4 win.
Prosper was 2-for-3 with a homer and a double, while Turcovski doubled, tripled and drove in two, and Disson singled, doubled, and drove in one for Pitt-Johnstown.
In his first collegiate start, Shuey went 3.1 innings and limited the Rock three runs (2 earned) on just three hits in a no-decision. He struck out one and walked three. Squiric picked-up the win and improved to 3-4 after holding Slippery Rock to just one unearned run on two hits over the final 3.2 innings. Squiric fanned seven and walked three.
With the split, Slippery Rock is 29-10 overall and 14-8 in the PSAC West.
The Mountain Cats will complete the four-game PSAC series against Slippery Rock with a pair of games on Saturday at Point Stadium starting at 1 p.m., before traveling to Bloomsburg for a non-conference game on Tuesday.
