Game 1 boxscore

Game 2 boxscore

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The Rock, in its quest for a third straight trip to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division playoffs, finds itself in a "must-win" situation for its final doubleheader of the season Saturday at Clarion.

SRU salvaged a split in Friday's PSAC-Western Division doubleheader vs. last-place Clarion (12-22, 4-14 PSAC-W) at Jack Critchfield Park with a 4-1 win in Game 2. Clarion jumped out to a 7-1 lead in Game 1 and held off a Rock rally to record a 7-6 victory.

The split gave The Rock a 10-8 mark in PSAC-West action and a 23-21 overall record.

SRU now trails division co-leaders California (Pa.) and Shippensburg by two games and third-place Indiana (Pa.) by one game heading into Saturday's action.

California (28-14, 12-6) and Indiana (34-17, 11-7) split their twinbill Friday in Indiana, while Shippensburg (31-21, 12-6) took two from hosting Lock Haven (16-32, 5-13).

The top three teams in the division at the end of Saturday's action will earn berths in the conference playoffs April 30-May 3 in Lancaster.

California and Shippensburg can assure themselves of a berth in the conference playoffs by winning one game on their home field Saturday. That would leave The Rock and indiana to battle for the final playoff berth.

A Rock sweep in Clarion and an Indiana split vs. California would leave SRU and IUP tied for third place and most likely force a coin flip to determine which team earns a playoff berth.

The story Friday for The Rock was one of deja vu.

One day after battling back from a 10-1 deficit after three innings vs. Seton Hill to lose a 10-9 decision, The Rock again found itself down by a 7-1 margin to Clarion after three innings of Friday's first game and fought its way back, only to lose a one-run decision.

And, one day after Mark Tanner pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout to lead SRU to victory vs. Seton Hill, Rich Hocanson scattered three hits in the first five innings to lead The Rock to victory in Friday's Game 2.

Matt Rossi smacked a three-run home run in the top of the first inning of Fridays's first game to give Clarion a lead it would not relinquish.

#M.J. Parsons#' RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the first made it a 3-1 game before the guests got a run in the top of the second and three in the third to take a 7-1 lead.

Scott Bender trimmed the deficit to 7-2 with a leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the fiftth.

Dan Hudeck's two-run double and Parsons' two-RBI single in the sixth cut the gap to 7-6, but that was as close as SRU would come.

Clarion pounded out seven earned runs on eight hits in the first three innings off Rock starting and losing pitcher Chris Squeglia (5-3) before Justin Thomas caged the Golden Eagles on only two hits in the fina four frames. Squeglia struck out three and walked one, while Thomas fanned two.

The Rock finished Game 1 with nine hits, paced by a 3-for-3, three-RBI effort by Parsons. Bender and Hudeck each added a pair of hits.

The Rock got seven hits in Game 2, led by a 3-for-4, one-RBI effort by Rich Michalek. He was the only Rock player with more than one hit in the game. 

A one-out single by Michalek, an RBI triple by Bender and an RBI single by Matt Adams in the bottom of the third inning gave Hocanson all the offensive support he would need to improve his season record to 5-1.

Clarion cut the margin in half with a run in the top of the fourth before SRU plated its final two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Key hits in the inning were a leadoff double by Billy Messer, an RBI double by Michalek and a run-scoring single by Parsons.

Hocanson struck out five and walked two while allowing one earned run in the first five frames before Brett Vescovi struck out three in two scoreless and hitless innings of relief work.