CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – The Slippery Rock University baseball team never gave itself a chance to record a second straight win Saturday afternoon at Veterans Administration Memorial Stadium.

 

Nine bases on balls issued by Rock pitchers and six fielding errors behind those hurlers accounted for 12 unearned runs for Tiffin University and allowed the Dragons to waltz to a football-like 26-9 victory.

 

Just for good measure, Tiffin also pounded out 26 hits off four SRU pitchers.

 

The Rock offense generated nine runs on 11 hits -- paced by a 3-for-5, two-RBI game by sophomore catcher Derek Diruscia and two-hit, two-RBI performances by junior first baseman Matt Adams and senior shortstop Kyle Smith -- but it wasn't nearly enough.

 

Saturday's outcome gave each team one win in the weekend series, which served as the season openers for both squads, and sets up the “rubber match” of the three-game set at 1 p.m. Sunday.

 

Tiffin parlayed three hits, three bases on balls and one Rock error into a seven-run explosion in the top of the first inning, added one run on three hits in the third frame and tacked on two more unearned runs in the fifth to take a 10-0 lead before The Rock got on the scoreboard.

 

An RBI single by junior left fielder Jacob Oswalt, a bases-loaded walk to senior third baseman Billy Herman and a two-run single by Adams keyed a four-run Rock uprising in the bottom of the fifth that cut the margin to 10-4.

 

That would prove to be as close as The Rock would get as Tiffin scored three runs in each of its next two at-bats to offset a single Rock tally in the bottom of the sixth.

 

A one-out groundout by Oswalt plated The Rock's sixth-inning run.

 

Trailing by a 16-5 margin, The Rock plated four runs in the bottom of the seventh, keyed by a two-run double by Diruscia.

 

Tiffin then exploded for 10 runs in the top of the eighth to set the final score at 26-9.

 

Rock starting pitcher Rich Hocanson was tagged with the loss after he allowed eight runs (four earned) on seven hits and walked four in three innings of work.

 

Junior righthander Vince Lloyd allowed two unearned runs on three hits and walked one in two innings before senior southpaw Sean Holliday yielded 13 runs (10 earned) on 12 hits, struck out two and walked three in two and two-thirds innings.

 

Freshman Nic McCowin allowed three unearned runs on four hits, struck out three and walked one in the final inning and one-third.

 

Sunday's game will be The Rock's final tuneup for its annual spring-break trip to Florida, during which the Green and White will play 11 games in the span of eight days.