SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. (May 2) – The California (PA) baseball team closed the regular season by being swept in a doubleheader at Slippery Rock on Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play, falling 2-1 in Game 1 and 7-5 in Game 2.
NOTES
• The Vulcans (26-22, 14-14) lost three of the four games in the series with The Rock this weekend by a combined four runs.
• Cal finished fifth in the PSAC West standings and will face Millersville, the fourth seed from the PSAC East, in the opening game of the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday, May 6, at 11 a.m.
• The league tournament features an expanded field of 10 teams this year and has shifted to a single-elimination format with games played at Jack Critchfield Park in Slippery Rock.
• Freshman shortstop
Alex Ables tallied six hits and four RBI in the series with The Rock after entering the weekend with 13 at-bats this year.
GAME 1
• Cal played its fifth one-run game over the last two weeks.
• Senior
Nathan Holmes (3-2) suffered the loss after allowing two runs (both earned) on four hits and one walk in 4.1 innings (87 pitches).
• Freshman
Nate Persinger tossed the final 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
• Cal and Slippery Rock both threatened multiple times in the early innings, as the Vulcans left runners on second and third in both the first and third innings.
• Holmes forced The Rock to strand the bases loaded in the second and leave runners on the corners in the fourth.
• In the bottom of the fifth, Slippery Rock led off with a double and scored two runs on three hits and a hit by pitch.
• The Vulcans mounted a two-out rally in the ninth with three-straight singles, cutting the deficit to a 2-1 margin on an RBI single by junior designated hitter
Ikon Jones.
• Cal left the game-tying run on third and the go-ahead run at second, as the game ended on a pop-up.
• The Nos. 2-4 hitters for the Vulcans all posted two hits, as the team finished with eight hits.
• Ables tallied two hits and one run scored, while Jones recorded two hits and the lone RBI.
• Senior first baseman
Connor Evans became the 14th player in single-season program history – and third in last four years – to reach the 70-hit milestone following his 21st multi-hit game of the spring.
GAME 2
• The Vulcans scored five runs in the fourth to erase a 5-0 deficit before The Rock scored the final two runs of the game.
• Ables collected two hits and two RBI, as Cal finished with only five hits.
• Slippery Rock scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the first inning before adding three runs in the second, 5-0.
• In the fourth, the Vulcans drew a bases-loaded hit by pitch and walk before Ables followed with a two-run single.
• Cal later tied the score in the inning on a wild pitch, 5-5.
• The Rock answered immediately in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff homer by left fielder Gage Gillott.
• Slippery Rock added an insurance run on three singles in the sixth inning.
• Senior
Roman Gill (5-3) was saddled with the loss after allowing six runs (all earned) on seven hits in 3.0-plus innings (81 pitches).
• Freshman
Logan Bauer worked 2.0 innings of scoreless relief without surrendering a hit.
NEXT
• Cal begins play in the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday against Millersville.
• The Vulcans and Marauders met four times in the post-season last year, including in the PSAC Championship.
• Millersville finished in a tie for third in the PSAC East standings with a 16-12 league record this spring.
