April 18, 2007
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Slippery Rock, Pa. -
Dan Hudeck smacked a game-winning two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 1, but The Rock had to settle for a split of Wednesday's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doubleheader vs. Indiana U. of Pa. at Jack Critchfield Park.
Hudeck's home run gave SRU a 9-8 win in the day's opening game. Indiana came back to record a 5-3 win in Game 2.
The split gives SRU a 21-11 overall record heading into Thursday's non-conference doubleheader at Wheeling Jesuit.
The split also kept The Rock in third place in the PSAC-West standings, one game behind co-leaders Shippensburg. SRU is 7-5 in division play, while California and Shippensburg are both 8-4.
Indiana (15-23 overall) is in fourth place in the division with a 6-6 record, one game behind SRU.
Hudeck's home run was his second of the season and the second of the game by a Rock player. Matt Adams walloped his second HR of the season, a solo shot, two innings earlier.
Hudeck was the only Rock player to have more than one hit in Game 1. He followed up Adams' circuit clout with a double in the fifth frame, when SRU scored three runs to tie the score at 7-7.
Hudeck's game-winning HR presented Mike DeCola (1-0) with the win. The third and final pitcher used by Rock head coach Jeff Messer in Game 1, DeCola allowed one earned run on two hits, struck out two and walked one in the top of the seventh.
Rock starting pitcher Mark Tanner allowed seven runs (six earned) on six hits, struck out two and walked three in the first four frames before Tom Turnbull struck out one and walked one in two hitless, scoreless innings.
Second-game starter and loser Chris Squeglia (1-5) suffered a similar fate to Tanner's as he allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits, struck out two and walked one in three and two-thirds innings of work.
Craig Misiewicz allowed three hits, struck out four and walked two in three and one-third scoreless innings in relief of Squeglia.
Hudeck Scott Bender and Billy Herman each had a pair of hits in The Rock's 10-hit second-game effort. Bender and Herman had a double each included in their hit totals.
Notes:
Wednesday's twinbill was the first in a series of five The Rock is scheduled to play in the span of five days. After visiting Wheeling Jesuit on Thursday, SRU travels to Clarion on Friday and hosts the Golden Eagles on Saturday in PSAC-West action. The weekend winds up with a Sunday non-conference twinbill at Mansfield.
The Rock is ranked third in the initial NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional poll released Wednesday. The NCAA poll will ultimately determine which six teams earn berths in the regional tournament.
SRU is ranked second in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association regional poll, which has no bearing upon the NCAA regional rankings.
The Rock is ranked 21st in the NCBWA top-25 national poll and received votes in the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper top-30 national poll, neither of which have any bearing upon the NCAA regional rankings.
