Click here to view Game 1 boxscore

Click here to view Game 2 boxscore

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- The Rock split an NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional regular-season twinbill Wednesday vs. Pitt-Johnstown at the Bob Gladwin Baseball Complex.

SRU scored five unanswered runs to win Game 1 by a 5-2 score and scored six unanswered runs in Game 2, but could not overcome an 8-0 UPJ lead and dropped an 8-6 decision.

The split gives the Green and White a 5-4 overall record, a 4-1 mark vs. regional rivals and a 3-4 record in spring-break games heading into Thursday's 12:30 p.m. nine-inning single game vs. regional rival Mansfield.

Pitt-Johnstown scored two runs in the top of the second inning to take the early lead in Game 1, only to see The Rock come roaring back.

Senior center fielder #M.J. Parsons got the rally started with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the second. The Rock would ultimately tie the score at 2-2 that inning as senior first baseman Scott Hugney# walked, moved around to third on a single by junior right fielder Scott Bender and scored on a wild throw on Bender's successful steal of second base.

SRU came right back to score two runs in the third frame, keyed by singles by sophomore second baseman Billy Messer, senior designated hitter Dan Hudeck, senior catcher Jim Eimiller (RBI) and senior left fielder Matt Messer (RBI).

Matt Messer scored the final run of the game in the sixth inning as he reached on an error, went to second on a single by Bender and scored on a second UPJ error.

Bender and Billy Messer each had two hits to lead an eight-hit Rock attack in Game 1.

Sophomore southpaw Rich Hocanson, after allowing two runs on three hits in the top of the second inning, settled down and scattered six hits over the final six frames and chalked up The Rock's  first complete-game pitching effort of the season.

Hocanson finished the game with eight strikeouts and only had to work out of two potential jams after the second inning. He induced an inning-ending double-play ground ball after UPJ had runners on second and third bases with only one out in the third inning, The Rock leading 4-3 at the time. He also slammed the door in the sixth with a ground ball to end the inning with UPJ runners on second and third bases.

Game 2 was a different story for Rock pitchers as UPJ scored two runs in the top of the first inning, added three tallies in the third and three more in the fourth to take an 8-0 lead that would ultimately stand out.

Rock starting and losing pitcher Mark Tanner (0-1) lasted only three batters before experiencing pain in his elbow and leaving the game.

He left the game with the bases loaded thanks to a walk, hit batsman and single.

Sophomore righthander Vince Lloyd replaced Tanner and got a flyout and two groundouts, but the Mountain Cats scored two runs before the inning was over.

UPJ manufactured its three third-inning tallies from a pair of hits, three bases on balls and a hit batsman and pieced together three hits and a walk to score three times in the fourth.

Sophomore righthander Justin Thomas spelled Lloyd in the midst of the fourth-inning uprising and eventually slammed the door, but the damage had ultimately been done.

SRU didn't go quietly, though, as the Green and White scored six runs on six hits in the top of the fifth to trim the margin to its eventual final two-run status.

Freshman catcher Derek Diruscia had the big hit in The Rock rally as he smacked his second home run of the season, a three-run shot, to put SRU on the scoreboard.

An RBI double by junior third baseman Billy Herman and an RBI single by Parsons joined Diruscia's blast as the highlights of the outburst.

Sophomore left fielder Jacob Oswalt had three hits in the game and Herman added two to lead a nine-hit Rock attack.

Lloyd allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits and walked four in three and two-third innings of work before Thomas allowed one hit, struck out one and walked one in two and one-thirds scoreless innings.