JOHNSTOWN, Pa. –
Ryan Uhl (St. Marys, Pa./St. Marys) hit two more homeruns on Sunday, including a grand slam, as IUP earned its second straight doubleheader split with Slippery Rock at Point Stadium in Johnstown.
Both of Uhl's homeruns came in the Crimson Hawks' 17-5 game two victory, smashing a two-run shot to center in the fifth and the grand slam in the sixth. The senior first baseman went a combined 4-for-7 on the day, adding a double and those six RBI. He now has a career-high nine homeruns in just 14 games so far this season.
The Crimson Hawks totaled 16 hits in the second game, including three by both Uhl and
Rick Jones (New Castle/Laurel).
John Beatty (New Castle/Mohawk),
Jonathan O'Neill (Pittsburgh/Chartiers Valley) and
Hunter Bigler (Washington/Trinity) all had two hits in the game.
Mike Lupia (Middletown/Middletown) was one of four Crimson Hawks with a double, while also driving in four runs.
Zach Chinchilla (Ambridge, Pa./Quigley Catholic) got the win, improving to 2-0 on the season by striking out seven in six full innings, giving up seven hits and five earned runs.
After a scoreless first, both teams pushed runs across in the second as IUP took a 3-2 lead. Slippery Rock tacked on three in the third, but the Crimson Hawks countered with four in the bottom half, driving in runs on three straight batters, to take a 7-5 lead heading to the fourth.
IUP scored four against in the fifth, with the first two coming off the bat of Uhl. Jones scored
Chris Calliari (Brockway/Brockway) on a triple to right field and later came across the plate on a wild pitch to give the Crimson Hawks an 11-5 lead.
Six runs came across in the sixth, starting with back-to-back bases loaded walks by Lupia and
Austin Mock (State College, Pa./State College), followed by Uhl's big shot to clear the bases and wrap up the scoring.
The opening game was a different story as Slippery Rock won an 11-2 ballgame.
Kyle Zaorski (Reading/Muhlenberg) fell to 2-2 on the year, allowing seven earned runs on 11 hits in four innings.
Zac LaNeve (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) and
Dan Clark (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) threw the final three innings of relief, giving up two runs on three hits while striking out a pair.
Slippery Rock scored in the first, third, fourth and seventh innings, and finished with 14 hits in the game. The Crimson Hawks scored their two runs with two outs in the seventh, as a single up the middle by Mock scored Lupia and Bigler.
The Crimson Hawks remain even on the season with a 7-7 overall record, but their 4-2 divisional record is one of the top marks in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West. Slippery Rock is now 9-8 overall and 2-4 in the division.
IUP's next action comes on Tuesday, traveling to Shippensburg to take on the Raiders (6-12) in a crossover doubleheader.
Visit www.IUPAthletics.com for up-to-date information and follow the Crimson Hawks on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.
