Final 2012 statistics

BUTLER, Pa. – Sophomore shortstop Will Kengor was 3-for-5 with one RBI, senior outfielder Matt Kosik (right) smacked a three-run double and The Rock defense turned three double plays in Friday morning's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Baseball Championships game at Pullman Park.

All those efforts went for naught, though, as Slippery Rock University saw the curtain ring down on its 2012 season in the form of a 15-6 loss to 14th-ranked West Chester University.

The loss was The Rock's second in three tournament games and third in as many meetings with West Chester (35-10) and gave the Green and White a 25-25-1 final overall record for the season.

Kengor slapped a one-out single into the left-center field gap in the bottom of the first inning to account for the first Rock run of the game, but that tally came after West Chester had scored three times in the top of the first inning to take a lead it would not relinquish.

Senior center fielder Derek Carr started The Rock rally with a leadoff single to left-center, moved to second base when junior designated hitter Ben Bechtol was hit by a pitch and scooted to third on an errant pickoff attempt before he trotted home on Kengor's basehit.

After Bechtol led off the bottom of the sixth with an infield single, Kengor's second of the game, a one-out double to right field, pushed him around to third base, from where he scored The Rock's second run on senior catcher Matt Accardi's RBI groundout.

By that time, though, West Chester had extended its lead to 10-1. The Golden Rams, after scoring three times in the first, added three more runs in the second inning and two runs in each of the fourth and fifth frames.

West Chester got three more runs in the top of the eighth to stretch its lead to 13-2 and plated the final two runs of the game in the top of the ninth.

Kengor's third hit of the game came as part of a four-run Rock rally in the bottom of the eighth inning that answered West Chester's top-of-the-eighth outburst and trimmed the deficit to 13-6.

Senior left fielder and team captain Carter Haponski received a bases-loaded walk to push across the first run in that inning before Kosik laced a line shot well over the left fielder's head to account for the final three tallies.

Freshman right-hander Garret Peterson was The Rock's starting pitcher and the victim of West Chester's offensive outbursts to open the game. Peterson (4-6) allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits, struck out three and walked one in the first four innings.

Senior right-hander Nic McCowin relieved Peterson and allowed two earned runs on one hit while walking two in one inning of work.

Sophomore righty John Kovalik threw blanks at West Chester for the first two innings of his work in relief of McCowin but wound up allowing three earned runs on five hits in two and one-third innings of work. He struck out one batter and walked one.

Sophomore righty Anthony Naso pitched the final one and two-thirds innings and was charged with two unearned runs on two hits. He issued two bases on balls.

West Chester, which won the PSAC-Eastern Division championship, finished Friday's game with 16 hits, five of which went for extra bases. Senior All-America candidate Joe Wendle, the No. 3 hitter in the Golden Rams' lineup, led the way with a 3-for-5, five-RBI effort that included two doubles. Chris Pula, the Golden Rams' cleanup hitter, collected four RBI and had one double while No. 2 hitter Jack Provine had four hits, including a pair of doubles, and collected three RBI.

Together, the No. 2 through 4 hitters in the West Chester lineup had nine hits, including five doubles, and collected 12 RBIs.

Kengor was the only Rock player to have more than one hit in a nine-hit attack.

Notes:

With the three double plays turned Friday, The Rock finished the 2012 season with 43 twin-killings, the second highest total in school history. The 1998 team turned 53 DPs in 49 games … Senior left-handed pitcher Zach Jeney, one of nine Rock seniors who saw their collegiate careers end Friday, finished his three-year Rock career with 175 strikeouts, the fourth highest total in Rock history. Jeney's senior-season total of 80 punchouts was the third highest single-season mark in school history … Sophomore right-hander Lou Trivino recorded 68 strikeouts this spring, which tied for fifth place on SRU's single-season chart, and finished the season with an 8-3 record that tied for the sixth best mark in school history … On the negative side, the 2012 Rock team, which was snake-bitten by 12 one-run losses, set a school record for most losses in a season. The previous mark for most losses was set in 1994, when the Green and White finished with a 21-24-1 record … That 1994 team is also the last Rock squad to finish with a losing record and is the only Jeff Messer-coached Rock team to finish with a sub-.500 record . This year's team avoided that dubious distinction by winning a 3-2, come-from-behind decision Thursday over Gannon.