March 30, 2007

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Slippery Rock, Pa. - Rich Hocanson and Jim Eimiller delivered key pitching and hitting efforts to lead the 27th-ranked Rock to a 3-1 win in Game 2 to give SRU a split in Friday afternoon's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doublehader vs. visiting California U. of Pa.

The Vulcans collected 11 hits in Game 1 en route to a 5-0 victory.

The Rock (13-7 overall, 1-1 PSAC-W) and California (11-7, 1-1) will close out their four-game season series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Falconi Field in Washington, Pa.

Friday's games between the No. 1 (Cal) and No. 2 (SRU) teams in the PSAC-West coaches' preseason poll lived up to expectations.

Hocanson scattered four hits, including a solo home run by Lee Rohan in the top of the third inning, struck out nine and did not issue a base on balls in his first complete-game effort of the season.

It appeared for awhile that Rohan's roundtripper would prove to be the difference in the game, as SRU had only three hits in the first five innings.

The Rock finally got to California starting and losing pitcher Andrew Rafalski in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Travis Trimbur lined a double to the base of the wall in left-center field with one out in the inning to score Jacob Oswalt from second base.

Oswalt was pinch running for Dan Hudeck, who had walked and moved to second on a single to right field by M.J. Parsons.

Eimiller then greeted Vulcan reliever Corry Ryan with a roped single to right field to allow both Parsons and Trimbur to score.

California staged an ill-fated comeback effort in the top of the seventh as Alex Lefcakis lined a leadoff double over Trimbur's head in right field. Hocanson quickly doused the smoldering fire, though, as he induced a pair of fly balls to Rich Michalek in center field and then recorded a swinging strikeout for the final out of the game.

Eimiller's decisive single was his second hit of the game; he was the only Rock player with more than one hit.

California's Chris Doerschner outdueled Rock ace Derek Blyzwick in Game 1 as Doerschner (4-1) limited SRU to only three hits. Phil Butch, Matt Adams and Hudeck had a single each to account for The Rock's offensive attack.

The Vulcans, meanwhile, had three extra-base hits (all doubles) and 11 total hits to score five earned runs off Blyzwick (2-1), who struck out three and walked three in a complete-game effort.

Blyzwick entered the game with a 0.50 ERA, the third lowest mark in the PSAC.

California scored three times in the top of the third inning before it added two insurance tallies in the top of the seventh.

Notes: The Rock began the week ranked 27th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II national poll, while California received votes in the poll ... The Rock and Vulcans were ranked fourth and sixth, respectively, in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers regional poll ... In other PSAC-West action Friday, Indiana U. of Pa. (9-15, 2-0) swept a twinbill from Lock Haven (4-14, 0-2). Results of the Shippensburg at Clarion twinbill were not available as of 7 p.m.