INDIANA, Pa. - IUP slammed three home runs and put together exciting rallies in both games, finishing with a doubleheader split with Slippery Rock Tuesday afternoon at Podbielski Field.
The Crimson Hawks scored runs in the fifth and sixth innings of game one to grab a 6-5 victory before seeing their late inning rally in game two fall short in extra innings in an 8-7 loss.
The doubleheader wrapped up the first series of the 2021 season with IUP taking three of four from its new division rival.
Standout performances
Sr.
Rachel Rodriguez: 3-6, two runs, double, three RBI
Fr.
Amanda Fischer: W in game one (2-1), 2-4, double, RBI
Soph.
Hope Jones: HR, two RBI, 4.1 IP, nine strikeouts in game one
Sr.
Kaitlyn Beers: HR in game one
Sr.
Jenna Rhue: HR in game two
Game one
With the game tied at 2-2 in the third,
Hope Jones and
Kaitlyn Beers provided the first big highlight of the day with back-to-back homers to give the Crimson Hawks a 4-2 lead. Jones' blast smashed off the scoreboard in left center while Beers went deep to right center.
Slippery Rock picked up a run on a homer of its own the following inning and then took a 5-4 lead in the fifth.
Renee Wall tied things up in the bottom half with a RBI single and Jones gave IUP the lead with a run scoring groundout in the sixth.
Jones also started in the circle, striking out a career-high nine in just 4.1 innings of work before giving way to
Amanda Fischer. Fischer went the final 2.2 innings, striking out four while giving up just one unearned run to get the victory.
Game two
Slippery Rock scored in each of the first two innings to take a 6-0 lead. IUP took advantage of a few Slippery Rock misplays in the third to cut the lead in half at 6-3, and then used a solo
Jenna Rhue blast in the fifth to make it 6-4. Fischer, seeing her first action at the plate this season, doubled to the gap in right center an inning later, driving home
Rachel Rodriguez to make it 6-5.
After SRU added an all-important insurance run in the seventh, IUP tied it with an RBI double by Rodriguez, scoring Beers and
Ashley Renzi, to send the game to extra innings.
The Rock picked up the win by scoring on a wild pitch and then put IUP down 1-2-3 in the bottom half.
Up next
The Crimson Hawks have a weekend series with Cal U on deck this weekend. The Vulcans will host a doubleheader Friday afternoon with the series finishing in Indiana Saturday.
Follow
For coverage of the IUP softball program, follow the Crimson Hawks on Twitter and Instagram @IUPsoftball and online at IUPAthletics.com.
