Game 1 boxscore
Game 2 boxscore

CLARION, Pa. -- Slippery Rock University pounded out 15 hits and scored 15 runs in Game 2 of Saturday's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division baseball doubleheader at Clarion University to salvage a split.

Clarion parlayed four unearned runs into an 8-4 victory in Game 1.

The split gave SRU a 15-9 final record in this spring's PSAC-West competition, good for third place and a berth in the conference tournament May 4-7 at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster.

SRU is 34-14 overall as it prepares for its final regular-season game Monday against NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional rival Wheeling Jesuit University. First pitch  at Jack Critchfield Park is set for 3 p.m.

Freshman right fielder Matt Kosik smacked his sixth home run of the season, a three-run shot in the fifth inning, and finished the game with two hits and five RBIs to lead The Rock's Game 2 attack.

Sophomore first baseman Derek Diruscia also had two hits and picked up three RBIs in the game, while junior catcher Matt Adams had two hits and two RBIs.

The Rock scored one run in the top of the first inning then closed out the game with four, four, three and three runs, respectively, in the fourth through seventh innings.

In the process, the Green and White finished off a four-game weekend series vs. Clarion in which it outscored the Eagles by a 42-19 margin and outhit them by a 52-30 margin in recording three wins. The Rock had 14 doubles and four home runs in the series.

Junior second baseman Billy Messer had two hits and two RBIs in Game 1, in which Clarion took the lead for good on a grand slam home run by Adam Foltz in the bottom of the second inning.

SRU scored three runs in the top of the first inning of Game 1 but did not score again until the top of the seventh, at which point it trailed by an 8-3 score.

Junior right-hander George Hebert was the hard-luck loser in Game 1. He allowed eight runs, ony four of which were earned, on seven hits, struck out three and walked three in four and one-third innings.

Junior righty Justin Thomas struck out one of the five batters he faced in the final one and two-thirds innings.

Junior righty Vince Lloyd was the beneficiary of the Game 2 offensive attack to improve his season record to 7-1. He yielded one unearned run on seven hits and struck out one in six innings.

Senior southpaw Sean Holliday pitched the final frame and allowed one earned run on two hits and struck out two.

PSAC tournament: The Rock, by virtue of its No. 3 finish in the PSAC-West race, will open PSAC tournament action at 3:30 p.m. May 4 against PSAC-East runner-up Kutztown (32-14).

SRU will face either PSAC-West champion Mercyhurst (33-14) or PSAC-East No. 4 finisher Mansfield (23-29) in second round action at either 12:30 p.m. (with first-round loss) or 6:30 p.m. (with first-round win) May 5.

The Rock did not play Kutztown during regular-season competition this spring. The Green and White lost three of four games against Mercyhurst during the PSAC-West season and swept a three-game season series from Mansfield while on its annual spring-break trip to Fort Pierce, Fla.

Regional ramifications: The Rock, despite having the second highest win total of any NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional team (West Chester is 38-10), is in jeopardy of being left out of the regional tournament, which will be held May 14-17.

SRU, which has played all 48 of its games this spring against regional competition, is not currently among the top eight teams in the NCAA poll. The top six teams at the end of regular-season competition will earn berths in the regional tournament.

The Rock is ranked fifth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Atlantic Regional poll, which has no bearing upon the NCAA rankings and/or selection of the regional tournament field.