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Game 1 Box Score
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Game 2 Box Score
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. (March 30) – After belting four homers in the nightcap, the California University of Pennsylvania softball team managed a split of its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West doubleheader at Slippery Rock on Tuesday afternoon, falling 3-1 in Game 1 before claiming a 4-0 victory.
With the split, the Vulcans have won nine of their last 11 games to improve to 12-9 this season with a 3-1 mark in league play. Meanwhile, The Rock moves to 11-8 overall and 1-1 in divisional action.
In Game 1, junior
Maria Greco (Pickering, Ontario/Notre Dame Catholic) was saddled with the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits in 6.0 innings of work with no walks and nine strikeouts. Slippery Rock's Shauna Walker improved to 6-1 this season after yielding only one run on five hits and fanning five.
The Rock took a 1-0 lead in the fourth with a two-out single and nearly plated another run before freshman center fielder
Jami Otter (Whitby, Ontario/Anderson C.V.I.) ended the inning after throwing out a runner at home. Slippery Rock added a pair of runs in the sixth on a two-run homer by third baseman Jenna Geibel.
Cal U cut the deficit to 3-1 on a two-out single by senior left fielder
Kayleigh Braim (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) that scored junior catcher
Danielle Easton (Hanover, Pa./South Western), who was named the PSAC West Hitter of the Week yesterday.
Easton collected two of the five hits by the Vulcans and also scored the team's only run.
Senior right-hander
Lauren Shaheen (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) tossed a three-hit, complete-game shutout with no walks and seven strikeouts in the nightcap against Slippery Rock. Over her last three outings, Shaheen (6-3) has worked 16.1 scoreless innings with only one walk and 16 strikeouts. Junior starter Lindsey Grace (3-6) suffered the loss for The Rock, allowing three runs on six hits in 5.0-plus innings.
Sophomore shortstop
Jillian Russell (London, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic) gave the Vulcans a 1-0 lead when she opened the bottom of the fourth with a longball. Cal U expanded its lead in the fifth when junior
Merissa Daley (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) hit an inside-the-park homer.
The Vulcans added a pair of insurance runs to take a 4-0 lead in the sixth when Russell and sophomore catcher
Alyson Johnson (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central) hit back-to-back homers.
Daley and Russell each led the team with two hits in the nightcap. Russell has belted all five of her team-leading longballs in the last week.
Cal U continues its two-day road trip when it travels to Erie, Pa., to play Mercyhurst in a PSAC West doubleheader, starting at 3 p.m.
