SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst softball team split its doubleheader against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opponent Slippery Rock. The Lakers claimed the first game, 5-2, but then dropped the second game, 7-6.
Game One: Mercyhurst 5, Slippery Rock 2
Mercyhurst broke out the bats early, scoring four runs in the first inning, and led the rest of the way.
Emily Hair finished 3-for-5 with a run and RBI.
Meghan Maranto added a 2-for-3 outing with two doubles, one run and one RBI.
Rachel DiBartolomeo added a 2-for-5 showing with an RBI and stolen base.
During the Laker first, Hair opened up scoring for the Lakers with an RBI single. Maranto followed with an RBI double,
Jamie Ward had an RBI single and Emily Dougher drew a bases-loaded walk.
Slippery Rock remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when Lauren Hawley smacked an RBI single for SRU's only two runs.
DiBartolomeo drove in the last run of the game in the top of the fifth with an RBI bunt single.
Heather Nye was credited as the winning pitcher, totaling three strikeouts, zero walks and two hit batters over seven innings of work. She allowed five hits and was charged with only one earned run.
Game Two: Slippery Rock 7, Mercyhurst 6
The Lakers held a two-run lead before the host Rock closed the game with three unanswered runs to earn the win.
Hair went 2-for-4 with a grand slam while DiBartolomeo was 2-for-4 with a homer.
Cassandra Egelston scored two runs.
The teams traded runs in the first inning as
Jolene Teller put the Lakers ahead with an RBI groundout before SRU answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI single by Hawley.
Hair blasted her two-out bases-loaded homer in the third inning, pushing Mercyhurst into a 5-1 lead.
Caitlin Baxter smashed a home run during The Rock's three-run third inning as the hosts closed to 5-4.
DiBartolomeo pushed the Laker lead to 6-4 with a home run in the fourth, but then came SRU's three-run rally.
Garland drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth for SRU when she singled.
Anna Cochis pitched the first three innings for Mercyhurst; only two of the fourth runs scored against her were earned.
Sarah Eschleman suffered the loss.
The Lakers will play again Tuesday in a doubleheader against cross town rival Gannon at 2:30 PM the event will be hosted by Gannon.
