Game 1 boxscore
Game 2 boxscore

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Junior left fielder Jacob Oswalt smacked three home runs and collected six RBIs Friday afternoon to lead the Slippery Rock University baseball team to an 8-3, 15-6 sweep of visitng Clarion University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action at Jack Critchfield Park.

Oswalt hit his third home runs of the season in Game 1 and added two circuit clouts in Game 2 as SRU improved its season records to 33-13 overall and 14-8 in PSAC-West action.

Clarion saw its season marks drop to 12-31 and 6-16.

The Rock and Golden Eagles will close out their four-game season series with a high-noon doubleheader Saturday in Clarion.

SRU then closes out its regular-season schedule with a 3 p.m. non-conference doubleheader Monday vs. Wheeling Jesuit University.

The outcome of Friday's first game was never really in doubt as The Rock scored three runs in each of the first two innings.

Junior catcher-first baseman Matt Adams and freshman right fielder Matt Kosik were each 3-for-3 in the game while Oswalt (double and HR) and senior center fielder Rich Michalek each added a pair of hits.

Kosik and sophomore shortstop Adam Jury each picked up two RBIs in the game.

Kosik, senior third baseman Billy Herman and junior second baseman Billy Messer each singled home a run in The Rock's first-inning rally.

Clarion cut The Rock lead to 3-2 with two runs in the top of the second inning before Oswalt's one-out solo home run made it a 4-1 game in the bottom of the second and SRU extended the margin to 6-2 with two more tallies that inning on a botched double-play attempt by the Golden Eagles.

Kosik singled home a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 7-2 game before Oswalt led off the bottom of the sixth with a double, moved to third on a single by Michalek and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jury.

Junior right-hander Scott Dunn pitched a complete game for The Rock and was the beneficiary of a 13-hit offensive attack. Dunn allowed three earned runs on seven hits, struck out five and walked four en route to his fifth route-going effort and sixth win in eight decisions this season.

In Game 2, Clarion jumped out to a 5-0 lead against Rock starting pitcher Mark Tanner and held a 6-2 lead after two and a half innings before SRU scored 13 unanswered runs to turn the game into a rout.

Tanner allowed five earned runs on three hits in one and two-thirds innings, struck out one and walked three, before sophomore southpaw Brett Vescovi came in and clipped the Golden Eagles' wings.

Vescovi allowed one earned run on four hits, struck out five and walked one in five and one-third innings to pick up the win and improve his season record to 4-1.

He was the beneficiary of a 15-hit  Rock attack, all of which came after he had taken the mound.

Kosik, Messer and senior shortstop Kyle Smith each had three hits in the game. 

Smith had a two-run double in the second inning to plate the first two Rock runs and had a two-run single in the sixth to finish the game with four RBIs.

Oswalt, meanwhile, one-upped Smith as he collected five RBIs with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, a three-run home run in the fifth and a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Kosik and Messer each picked up two RBIs while Adams and sophomore catcher-first baseman Derek Diruscia each had one RBI.

Adams' RBI came on his 13th home run of the season, a solo shot in the third inning.

Down by a 5-0 score when it came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning, SRU chipped away at the deficit.

SRU scored two runs in each of the second and third frames to trim the Clarion leads to 5-2 and 6-4, got a single run in the fourth to make it a 6-5 game and then exploded for five runs in each of the fifth and sixth frames to complete the rout.

Notes:

Oswalt was the second Rock player to hit three home runs in the last three twinbills. Kosik clobbered three circuit clouts last Saturday vs. Lake Erie College of Ohio ... Adams, with five hits in seven at bats Friday, improved his batting average to .491, which is five points higher than the present SRU school record set by Dan DeCola in 2000. The current owner of an .840 slugging percentage this spring, Adams is also on pace to shatter the single-season mark of .807 (Brad Lowe, 1998) ... Adams is now tied for second on SRU's single-season home run chart (16 by Lowe in 1998), alone in second place on the single-season doubles chart with 22 (two shy of his own mark of 24 set in 2007), third on the single-season hits chart with 82 (10 shy of Joe Neidrick's 2003 total) and fifth on SRU's single-season RBI chart with 57 (school record: 80 by Craig White in 1989) .. Junior right-hander Vince Lloyd can move into a tie for fourth place on SRU's single-season wins chart if he picks up a win in his scheduled start Saturday in Clarion.