SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The IUP softball team fell in doubleheader action to Slippery Rock, falling in a pair of extra inning games by scores of 3-2 and 12-11.
Game One: Slippery Rock 3, IUP 2 (8 Innings)
Slippery Rock won the game on a bases-loaded walk, opening the day with a 3-2 victory.
Jordan Sylvia smacked a two-run single through the left side in the first inning, accounting for all of the IUP scoring offense early on.
SRU starter Alexsa Hurd limited the Hawks to five hits in a complete game win. She held IUP scoreless over the final seven innings of the day, helping her own cause with a homer in the home half of the first.
A third inning double leveled the score at two for SRU and forced extra innings. Sylvia accounted for two of IUP's five hits in the opening game, while
Madison Pikula and
Maddie Griffin each scored a run.
Kendall Young surrendered two earned runs over 7.1 innings. She walked four and fired six strikeouts in the circle.
Game Two: Slippery Rock 12, IUP 11 (8 Innings)
IUP racked up 10 runs spanning the third through fifth innings before Slippery Rock extended the game with a eight-run fifth inning. In a game that appeared IUP would cruise through, the Rock battled back and got back within 11-10 going into the sixth inning.
After opening up a sizable lead, the Crimson Hawks did all they could to hold off a charging Slippery Rock squad.
Ultimately, SRU erased an nine-run deficit with a game-tying knock in the seventh. With heavy thunderstorms closing in, the game went to extra innings. Julia Monte smacked a walk-off homer in the eighth, capping a wild comeback for SRU.
The Crimson Hawks manufactured runs throughout, including a sacrifice fly from
Jess Cekada in the third, a bases-loaded hit by pitch for
Delaney Patella in the fourth and a foul out sacrifice fly from
Paige Truax in the fifth.
Griffin laced a triple down the left field line for a commanding 9-2 edge. Trailing 11-2, a pair of two-RBI doubles off the bats of Aubrey Mansfield and Julia Montie handed SRU some momentum. An error kept the inning going for SRU, which got back within one (11-10) on a single.
A chaotic contest at times, IUP was doubled up in the seventh that included a play at the plate and a rundown going to third.
Jaycee Haidze and Patella scored three runs each, while Sylvia drove in five RBI on four hits.
Up Next
IUP heads to California (Pa.) for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 16 at 2:00 p.m.
Follow
For coverage of the IUP softball program, follow the Crimson Hawks on X (Twitter) and Instagram @IUPsoftball and online at IUPathletics.com.
