March 27, 2004

Box Score

Clarion, Pa. - Hosting Clarion scored five runs in its final three at-bats Saturday afternoon to erase a 9-5 Rock lead and record a 10-9 win in the second game of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doubleheader.

The Golden Eagles scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and two more in the sixth to tie the score at 9-9 before getting the winning run in the seventh.

The most disappointing part of the loss for 19th-year head coach Jeff Messer and The Rock is the fact that Clarion scored all of its fifth- and sixth-inning runs after two outs had been recorded in the respective innings.

The loss snapped a six-game win streak for The Rock, which fell to 17-9 overall and 3-1 in PSAC-West action. Clarion is now 7-9, 1-3.

Nathan Statzer had a pair of hits and three RBIs to lead The Rock's 10-hit attack, while Aaron Levonick had two RBIs.

Josh Rape was the hard-luck loser, in relief of Rock starter Nick Armstrong.

Rape allowed one unearned run on two hits in one inning of work after Armstrong had yielded nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits in the first 5 2/3 innings.

The Rock will look to bounce back on Tuesday when it travels to Shepherd College (Shepherdstown, W. Va.) for a 1 p.m. non-conference doubleheader.

SRU then travels to nationally ranked Shippensburg for a 1 p.m. PSAC-West doubleheader on Friday before hosting the Red Raiders in a 1 p.m. twinbill at Jack Critchfield Park the following day.