May 2, 2007

Box Score

Slippery Rock, Pa. - Phil Butch collected four hits in five at bats and four RBIs Wednesday afternoon to lead The Rock to a 13-5 win over West Chester in the opening game of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Baseball Championship tournament at Jack Critchfield Park.

The Rock pounded out a total of 19 hits in the game to improve its season record to 32-13.

The win was The Rock's 11th in the last 13 games and moved SRU into Thursday's noon game against California U. of Pa., a 7-1 winner over East Stroudsburg in Wednesday's second game.

West Chester, which had 11 hits in the game, lost its second straight game, dropped to 30-14 overall and faces elimination in Thursday's 3 p.m. game. The Golden Rams will face the loser of Thursday's 9 AM game between Kutztown and Shippensburg.

Matt Adams, Scott Bender and Rich Michalek added three hits each for The Rock in the win over West Chester. Adams and Bender each picked up two RBIs, while Michalek plated one run.

Dan Hudeck had two hits and two RBIs for SRU.

Derek Blyzwick was The Rock's starting and winning pitcher. He improved his season record to 5-2 with a six-inning stint in which he allowed four earned runs on nine hits, struck out seven and walked two.

Craig Misiewicz struck out one in two innings of work in relief of Blyzwick before Vince Lloyd allowed one earned run on two hits, struck out one and walked one in the final frame.

The Rock took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on singles by Butch, Adams and Hudeck.

West Chester erased that deficit and took a 3-1 lead with three tallies on three hits in the top of the fourth.

SRU came right back to score two times in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by Bender (his second HR of the season), a double by Travis Trimbur and an RBI single by Butch.

A single WCU run in the top of the fifth made it a 4-3 game before The Rock ran off 10 unanswered runs to ice the win.

The Rock scored three runs on two hits in the bottom of the sixth (RBI single by Michalek, sacrifice fly by Billy Herman), then erupted for six runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Key hits in the seventh-inning rally were a two-run single by Butch, an RBI singles by Adams, Bender and M.J. Parsons and a bases-loaded walk by Hudeck.

SRU scored its final run in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Adams before West Chester got the final tally of the game in the top of the ninth.

Wednesday's win marked the second time in as many seasons that SRU knocked off West Chester in an opening-round game. The Rock won a 12-8 decision a year ago in Boalsburg.