April 24, 2006

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Slippery Rock, Pa. - J.D. Lowry lined an RBI single to left field with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to give The Rock a 7-6 win over visiting Shippensburg in Game 2 and a split of Monday's crucial Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doubleheader at Jack Critchfield Park.

Shippensburg won Game 1 by a 5-1 margin, but could not make a 6-2 lead after 5 1/2 innings stand up in Game 2.

With the split, The Rock remained in a tie with California U. of Pa. for the PSAC-West lead. Both teams own 29-15 overall records and a 13-3 division mark.

The Rock and California will seek to break the tie next weekend, April 28-29, when they meet in the final four-game series of the conference season.

SRU will travel to Falconi Field in Washington, Pa., for a 1 p.m. doubleheader vs. the Vulcans on Friday before the teams close out the PSAC-West schedule with a 4 p.m. twinbill Saturday at "The Jack."

Before taking on the Vulcans, The Rock will host West Liberty State (W. Va.) in a 4 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday.

The Rock will enter that twinbill ranked 30th in the American Baseball Coaches Association national poll and third in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association regional poll.

SRU will learn late Tuesday or early Wednesday where it stands in the second NCAA Division II baseball committee regional ranking. SRU was ranked third in the inaugural poll last week.

Game 2: Rock scores come-from-behind win

Lowry's game-winning hit in Monday's second game was his second RBI single in as many innings. He also had a run-scoring hit in the sixth inning, when SRU scored two runs to trim a 6-2 Shippensburg lead in half.

Todd Schickling also had an RBI single in the sixth inning after Chris Tolliver had led off the frame with a double and Rich Michalek beat out an infield single.

Tolliver delivered a two-run single in the seventh to tie the score at 6-6 and set the stage for Lowry's game-winning hit.

Lowry lined a shot over the head of Shippensburg left fielder Ryan Bucher, who was playing shallow in hopes of gunning the potential winning down at the plate on a short fly ball.

The wild finish completed The Rock's comeback rally of the game.

Shippensburg took a quick 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by Jamie Mengle with two outs in the top of the first inning.

The Rock answered back with a run in the bottom of the first. Schickling recorded his first RBI single of the game to score Phil Butch, who had led off the inning with a single and stolen second base.

Shippensburg regained the lead with two runs in the fourth and extended its lead to four, 6-4, with two tallies in the top of the sixth but could not slam the door on the hosts.

Lowry's game-winning hit was the 16th of the game by The Rock. Schickling and Brad Wilson had three hits each, while Lowry, Tolliver and Dave Gonos had two hits apiece.

Tom Turnbull picked up the win in relief of starter John Katich. Turnbull gave up one hit, struck out one and walked one in 1 2/3 innings of work to improve his season record to 5-3.

Katich yielded six earned runs on 12 hits, struck out three and walked one in the first 5 1/3 innings.

Game 1: Ship sails

The Rock managed only four hits in Game 1 off Shippensburg pitcher Matt Wright, who struck out nine SRU batters en route to a complete-game win.

The only hit of note for The Rock was a solo home run by Tolliver in the fourth inning that trimmed Shippensburg's lead to 2-1.

The roundtripper was a team-high fifth of the season for Tolliver.

The Red Raiders padded their final margin with three runs in the top of the seventh.

Derek Blyzwick suffered the loss for The Rock, his first setback in five decisions this spring. He allowed five earned runs on 12 hits, struck out six and walked two in the process of recording his fifth complete-game effort in six starts this spring.

Notes: Butch swiped his 29th base of the season (34 attempts) in Game 2 on Monday and now needs only two more successful attempts to move into a tie with Gary Gill (1982) for second place on SRU's single-season chart. He is eight steals away from the school record of 37 set by Joe Lacey, also in 1982 ... Butch remains tied for third on SRU's single-season triples chart with seven ... Colin Scott (51 in 50 IP) is seven strikeouts away and Blyzwick (50 in 45 IP) is eight K's away from a tie for the No. 10 spot on that single-season chart ... The next Rock win will make the 2006 squad the 12th team in school history and the ninth in the last 10 campaigns to record 30 or more wins in a season ... The Rock is now 24-13 against regional rivals this spring and 14-6 in games at "The Jack" ... SRU is 64-29 in home games since planting its stakes at Jack Critchfield Park just over four years ago. The Rock swept a grand-opening doubleheader from Edinboro on April 22, 2002.