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Click here to view Game 2 boxscore

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.  -- The Rock smacked four home runs in Tuesday's non-conference doubleheader vs. West Liberty State at Jack Critchfield Park, but was only able to salvage a split.

The visiting Hilltoppers shook off a three-run home run by The Rock's Billy Messer in the bottom of the seventh inning and won a 5-4 decision in eight innings in Game 1.

SRU then rode a 20-hit offensive attack that included roundtrippers by Matt Adams (pictured above), Rich Michalek and #M.J. Parsons# to a 21-5 victory in Game 2.

With the split, The Rock will take a 19-15 overall record into this week's crucial Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division four-game series vs. Indiana U. of Pa.

West Liberty State returned to West Virginia with a 9-23 record following Tuesday's action.

The Rock was held only four hits and no runs in the first six innings of Game 1 before it plated four runs on five hits in the bottom of the seventh to erase a 4-0 West Liberty State lead and send the game into overtime.

Jacob Oswalt got The Rock seventh-inning rally started with a leadoff single to right field and Jim Eimiller added a one-out single through the right side of the infield to set the stage for Messer's three-run blast, his first roundtripper of the season.

Michalek, the only Rock player with two hits in the game. followed Messer's circuit clout up with a single up the middle, stole second and strolled home with the tying run when Scott Bender crushed a triple to straightaway center field.

One out later, Bender was tagged out at the plate trying to score the potential winning on a wild pitch.

West Liberty, which had scored one run in each of the fourth and sixth frames and two tallies in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead, scored the winning run in the top of the eighth on a one-out double and two-out single.

The Hilltoppers collected 14 hits off four Rock pitchers, the final two in the final inning off losing pitcher Justin Thomas (0-1).

SRU starter Sean Holliday yielded three earned runs on nine hits and struck out five in five innings of work; Colin McCoy allowed one earned run on two hits, struck out one and walked one in one inning;  Jim Hughes allowed one hit and struck out one in one inning before Thomas pitched the final frame.

Three bases on balls issued by Rock Game 2 starting pitcher Vince Lloyd set the stage for a grand slam home run by West Liberty State's Walt Cochrane in the top of the first that put SRU back on its heels right off the bat.

But The Rock quickly regained its composure and scored five runs in the bottom of the first to take a lead it would not relinquish.

The first five Rock players to come to bat in the top of the first inning scored, all before a single out was recorded.

Michalek got The Rock's first-inning rally started with a leadoff home run by left center before Bender walked, Billy Herman lined a double down the left field line, Adams smacked a two-run double to left center and Parsons smashed a two-run home run to right field.

A sacrifice fly by Bender in the second inning plated SRU's sixth run of the game and proved to be the eventual winning run.

Neither team scored again until the top of the seventh, when West Liberty plated a run to trim the SRU lead to 6-5.

The Green and White answered that tally with a 15-run, 10-hit explosion in the bottom of the sixth to set the final score.

Michalek collected four RBIs in the inning with a two-run single and a two-run double, while Adams had three RBIs with a two-run home run and an RBI single. Herman had a two-run double, Bender and Adam Jury each slapped an RBI single and Mitchell Monas and Derek Diruscia each collected an RBI when they were hit by a pitch.

Adams and Michalek each had four hits and five RBIs in Game 2, while Bender and Herman each added three hits and two RBIs and Parsons had two hits and two RBIs.

Lloyd was the beneficiary of the offensive outburst as he was able to record his second win in three decisions this spring despite allowing five earned runs on three hits and seven bases on balls in five and two-thirds innings. Hee also struck out seven batters.

Brett Vescovi walked one batter in one-third of an inning before Mark Tanner struck out one and walked one in the top of the seventh to close out the game.

Notes:

The Rock opens its four-game weekend series vs. IUP with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday in Indiana. The teams then meet in a 4 p.m. twinbill Saturday at The Jack ... The Rock enters the weekend series in fourth place in the PSAC-West standings, one game behind both IUP and Shippensburg and two games off the pace being set by four-time defending division champion California ... California and Shippensburg meet head-on in another crucial PSAC-West series this weekend ... Tuesday marked the first appearance by Tanner since he left a March 12 game in Fort Pierce, Fla., due to injury. He began the season among the prime candidates for a spot in the starting rotation ... Adams and Parsons each hit their team-leading fifth home run in Tuesday's second game, while Michalek smacked his third roundtripper of the season ... Adams now leads the team in RBIs with 27, followed by Bender with 26, Parsons with 25, Herman 24 and Michalek 23.