Game 1 boxscore
Game 2 boxscore

ERIE, Pa. -- The Slippery Rock University baseball team dropped both ends of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doubleheader on a windy, cold Saturday afternoon at Mercyhurst College to fall to 20-20 overall and 12-10 in PSAC-West action.

Mercyhurst (21-18, 12-7) got a two-out RBI single from pinch hitter John Blike in the bottom of the eighth inning to win Saturday's first game by a 4-3 score, then rode the two-hit shutout pitching of Ben Rawding to a 2-0 win in the second game.

The Rock did not have a hit in the second game until sophomore left fielder Carter Haponski dropped a bloop single into the left field corner to lead off the top of the seventh inning. Two batters later, senior second baseman Billy Messer singled up the middle for the second and final Rock hit of the game.

Both Haponski and Messer moved up one base via a double steal to put the tying run on second base when freshman third baseman Jamison Walck's hard-hit fly ball to right field was caught for the final out.

SRU scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning of Saturday's first game to tie the score at 3-3 and ultimately send the game into extra innings.

Senior right-hander Don Pugliese was the hard-luck losing pitcher in the first game. He struck out six, walked three and allowed two earned runs on nine hits in seven innings to record his fourth complete game of the season but saw his record fall to 3-2.

Senior right-hander Vince Lloyd saw his season record fall to 2-3 in the second game after he allowed two earned runs on five hits, struck out two, walked four and hit two batters in the process of pitching his first complete game of the season.

Mercyhurst took advantage of Lloyd's wildness in the bottom of the third inning to score the only runs of the game. A walk and back-to-back hit batsmen loaded the bases with one out and set the stage for a two-run single to left field by Kevin McCall.

The only time The Rock seriously threatened to score was in the top of the seventh inning after they had spoiied Rawding's no-hit bid.

SRU had two other potential rallies snuffed out by double-play groundouts back-to-back in the fourth and fifth innings, but also matched those twin-killings with two of their own (bottom of fourth and sixth innings).

SRU also turned a double play in the Saturday's first game, immediately after scoring two runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the score at 3-3.

In the first game, The Rock struck quickly for a run in the top of the first inning, thanks to a leadoff double to left-center by junior center fielder Matt Howard, a ground out and an RBI single by junior shortstop Adam Jury.

The RBI was the sixth recorded by Jury in two games against Mercyhurst. He collected five in last Friday's 11-5 come-from-behind win with an RBI double and a grand slam home run that accounted for the ultimate winning tallies.

Mercyhurst matched SRU's first-inning run Saturday with one of its own to knot the score at 1-1 after one frame, then plated two tallies in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 lead.

That lead stood until the top of the sixth when Messer got a two-out walk, Walck singled up the middle and both runners scored on junior first baseman Derek DiRuscia's two-run double to left center.

The Rock had runners on second and third bases with two outs in the top of the seventh after Howard walked and Jury singled to center and stole second, but the potential go-ahead runs were left stranded by an inning-ending strikeout.

Mercyhurst then got the potential winning run to second base in the bottom of the seventh but Pugliese induced a foul popout and a ground-ball out to sidestep trouble.

A leadoff single by Walck, followed by a sacrifice bunt by DiRuscia and a flyout put The Rock in position to take the lead in the top of the eighth but the threat ended with a flyout.

Mercyhurst then manufactured the winning run from a leadoff walk and a pair of singles, capped by Blike's game-winning "seeing-eye" single through the right side of the infield.

Saturday's losses dropped The Rock into fifth place in the PSAC-West standings, percentage points behind fourth-place Gannon (11-9 PSAC-West), which is idle from division play this weekend.

Mercyhurst is solidly in third place in the division standings behind co-leaders California and Indiana, each of which own 15-5 division records. Indiana swept a Saturday twinbill from California to take three of four games from the Vulcans this weekend and move into the tie for the top spot.

Both California and Indiana are assured of berths in the conference playoffs, which will be held April 28-May 1 at Point Stadium in Johnstown.

The Rock closes out its PSAC-West schedule at 3 p.m. Sunday with the resumption of a game at Jack Critchfield Park in Slippery Rock that was suspended from Friday afternoon. There was no score going into the bottom of the first inning when action was halted. Play will resume from that point Sunday afternoon.

Sunday's game is a crucial one for The Rock.

A Rock win Sunday would force Gannon to win at least three of four games next weekend vs. Indiana in order to earn a PSAC playoff berth and leave SRU on the outside looking in at postseason competition.

A Rock loss Sunday coupled with two Gannon wins vs. Indiana would send the Golden Knights to the playoffs and leave The Rock out of postseason play.

On the flip side, Mercyhurst would assure itself of a playoff berth with a win Sunday or in any of its four games next weekend vs. last-place Clarion (1-19 PSAC-West).

The top four teams in the division standings at the end of regular-season play next weekend will earn berths in the conference tournament.