Game 1 boxscore
Game 2 boxscore

ERIE, Pa. -- The 30th-ranked Slippery Rock University baseball team dropped both ends of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doubleheader Friday afternoon at Mercyhurst College.

The hosting Lakers won Game 1 by a 3-2 score on a walkoff solo home run by pinch hitter John Blike in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Mercyhurst left-hander Nick Gillung then tossed a three-hit shutout to lead the hosts to a 6-0 win in Game 2.

With the wins, Mercyhurst improved its season record to 23-12 overall and 10-4 in PSAC-West action and moved ahead of SRU (25-11, 11-7) in the division standings.

The Rock and Lakers are scheduled to conclude their four-game season series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday at SRU's Jack Critchfield Park.

SRU scored single runs in the top of the first and second innings to take a quick 2-0 lead in Game 1, but that proved to be the extent of the guests' scoring as three Mercyhurst pitchers combined to blank the Green and White for the final 12 innings of action.

The Rock had its chances in those final frames, but failed to get timely hitting.

A one-out double down the left field line by senior third baseman Billy Herman got The Rock's first-inning rally started. Herman moved to third on a Mercyhurst fielding error before he trotted home on an RBI single up the middle by sophomore shortstop Adam Jury.

Junior second baseman Billy Messer earned a base on balls immediately after Jury's single and load the bases with only one out, but back-to-back swinging strikeouts stranded all three runners.

That failure  to convert a golden scoring opportunity, as well as two others later in the game, ultimately came back to haunt The Rock.

A leadoff home run by freshman right fielder Matt Kosik in the top of the second inning pushed The Rock lead to 2-0.

Mercyhurst, after being held hitless for the first three innings by Rock starting and losing pitcher Scott Dunn (5-2), got two hits in the bottom of the fourth frame and scored a single tally to trim SRU's lead in half.

An inning later, three more Lakers hits pushed across the tying run.

That rally came on the heels of Rock scoring threat in the top of the fifth, when junior catcher Matt Adams smacked a leadoff double into the right-center field gap but was stranded at second base by a groundout and two strikeouts.

The Rock also threatened to score in the top of the sixth, immediately after Mercyhurst had tied the score at 2-2, as sophomore first baseman Derek Diruscia led off the frame with a double down the left field line. He was stranded there, though, by two strikeouts and a flyout.

SRU had its final scoring threat of the day in the top of the seventh inning of Game 1, when Herman singled, moved to second on a one-out wild pitch and advanced to third on a one-out passed ball. A strikeout and a botched double-steal attempt wiped out the scoring threat.

Dunn pitched a complete game for SRU and allowed three earned runs on six hits, struck out six and walked two.

The Rock stranded nine runners in Game 1.

Mercyhurst carried the momentum of the Game 1 over into Game 2 and plated two runs in each of its first two at bats and added single tallies in their third and fourth frames to assume quick and firm control of the action.

The only hits recorded by The Rock in Game 2 were a one-out single by Herman in the first inning, a one-out single by Adams in the fourth and a two-out single by Messer in the seventh.

Senior southpaw Mark Tanner (2-2) was The Rock starting and losing pitcher in Game 2. He yielded four earned runs on four hits in the first two innings, struck out four and walked three.

Sophomore right-hander Mike Ritson allowed one unearned run on one hit, struck out one and walked one in his only inning of work before redshirt freshman southpaw John Thomas pitched the final three innings. Thomas allowed one unearned run on one hit, struck out five and walked three.

After hosting Mercyhurst in Saturday's twinbill, The Rock will entertain regional rival Ohio Valley (W. Va.) in a 3 p.m. doubleheader Tuesday and then travel to Shepherd (W. Va.) for a regional twinbill Wednesday.