April 16, 2005

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Shippensburg, Pa. - The Rock snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the second game of Saturday's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doubleheader vs. Shippensburg and, in the process, remained in the hunt for a postseason berth.

J.D. Lowry's two-run triple in the top of the sixth inning plated the tying and winning runs in SRU's 8-6 second-game to complete a Rock comeback effort that erased a 6-0, third-inning deficit.

Lowry had a pair of hits in the second game and also had a pair of singles in the first game, which Shippensburg won by a 9-0 margin.

The second-game win snapped a four-game losing streak for SRU, but more importantly Saturday's split leaves The Rock (25-11) and Shippensburg (22-20) tied for third place in the six-team PSAC-West.

California (24-11, 10-2) leads the West, followed by Clarion (20-15-1, 8-4), The Rock and Shipp, Lock Haven (14-19, 4-8) and Indiana (9-15, 2-10).

The top three teams from each of the Western and Eastern divisions will advance to the conference playoffs May 9-11 in Boalsburg (suburban State College).

The Rock and California will meet in a crucial four-game series next weekend (Friday at Jack Critchfield Park, Saturday at Falconi Field in Washington, Pa.).

First, though, The Rock will entertain Mercyhurst in a 4 p.m. (note time change) non-conference doubleheader at Critchfield Park.

Saturday's second-game comeback was especially invigorating for The Rock in light of the dominance Shippensburg had held over SRU in the first three games-plus-four innings of the weekend series.

Ship, which swept Friday's doubleheader at Critchfield Park by 6-1 and 6-0 scores, outscored The Rock by a 21-1 margin and outhit the Green and White by a 41-12 margin in the first three games.

The Red Raiders continued its reign of terror with six runs and eight hits in the first four innings of Saturday's second game.

But, jump-started by a slam-the-door relief effort by Dan Herisko, The Rock bounced back in big-time fashion.

Back-to-back singles by Phil Butch and Matt Kozusko and a walk to Chase Rowe loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning and sent Shippensburg head coach Bruce Peddie in search of some relief-pitching help.

Peddie wound up calling upon three relievers before the game was over.

A one-out sacrifice fly by Dave Gonos brought home Butch with The Rock's first run of the day in the fourth frame.

Two innings later, The Rock finished its comeback effort with seven runs on six hits.

Lowry's two-run triple was the key hit, but The Rock also got crucial, run-producing contributions from Todd Schickling (two-run single), Gonos (bases-loaded walk) and Butch (sacrifice fly).

Gonos, Lowry and Schickling each had a pair of RBIs in the game, while Kozusko, Lowry and Brad Wilson had two hits each.

Lowry's triple and a double by Rowe accounted for the only extra-base hits of the day for The Rock.

Shippensburg got six runs (three earned) on eight hits off Rock starting pitcher Troy Wilson) before Rock head coach Jeff Messer made a call to the bullpen and brought in Herisko.

The lanky right-hander pitched three scoreless, hitless innings in relief and struck out three to improve his record to 3-1.

Butch and Lowry had two hits each to lead a six-hit Rock attack in the first game.