April 7, 2005

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Slippery Rock, Pa. - The sixth-ranked Rock dropped both ends of a non-conference doubleheader Thursday afternoon vs. visiting West Liberty State and saw its overall record drop to 21-4.

West Liberty State (10-13) scored four runs in the top of the first inning en route to a 9-3 win in the first game and took the second game by an 11-6 margin.

The first-game loss snapped a seven-game win streak by The Rock, which was ranked sixth in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America national poll and seventh by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

The Rock will look to bounce back on Saturday when it travels to Clarion for a 1 p.m. Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doubleheader.

SRU and Clarion will then close out their four-game season series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday at Jack Critchfield Park.

First game

Derek Blyzwick (2-2) was tagged with the first-game loss after he allowed six earned runs on eight hits in the first three innings. He struck out one and walked one before exiting the game with an injury.

Mike DeCola allowed three unearned runs on two hits, struck out three and walked four in three innings of work in relief of Blyzwick before David Musher (one walk) pitched the final inning.

All three of The Rock's first-game runs came on solo home runs -- back-to-back-to-back blasts by Chase Rowe, Chris Tolliver and Brad Wilson in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The HRs paced a seven-hit Rock attack in the opening game.

West Liberty, after scoring four times in the first inning, added single runs in the second and third and three tallies in the fifth to take a 9-0 lead.

Second game

West Liberty did "one better" in the second game as it scored five runs in the top of the first inning.

The Rock trimmed the margin to 5-1 with a "manufactured run" in the bottom of the first. Matt Kozusko slapped a one-out single to left field, moved to second on a wild pickoff throw and came around to score on a pair of passed balls.

SRU then scored four runs in the third to tie the score at 5-5. Tolliver brought home the first run with a sacrifice fly before Billy Wolfe smacked a two-out, bases-loaded double off the fence in left-center field to plate three runs.

West Liberty put the game away with three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings before The Rock scored one run in the bottom of the seventh to set the final margin.

Kozusko doubled to center, moved to third on a single by Rowe and trotted home on a sacrifice fly by Travis Trimbur to account for the final run of the game.

Kozusko and Jim Eimiller had two hits each to lead an eight-hit Rock attack in the second game.

Rock starting pitcher Jeremy Becker (2-1) was tagged with the loss after he yielded eight runs (five earned) on nine hits, struck out five and walked three in 4 1/3 innings.

Josh Rape allowed three earned runs on five hits, struck out one and walked one in the final 2 2/3 innings.