Game 1 boxscore
Game 2 boxscore

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – For the second straight day, the Slippery Rock University baseball team went on the offensive to record a second-game win and salvage a doubleheader split.

Approximately 24 hours after they had recorded a 12-11 home win over Indiana (Pa.), The Rock prevailed over hosting Shippensburg University by a 15-11 score Monday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference interdivisional action at Art Fairchild Field.

Junior designated hitter Matt Kosik smacked a pair of home runs, including a solo shot to lead off the top of the seventh inning that accounted for the eventual winning run, to headline a group of three Rock players who hit roundtrippers in the game.

Freshman right-hander #J.J. Paskert#, the third of four pitchers used by Rock head coach Jeff Messer, picked up the win to even his season record at 1-1.

Shippensburg (16-22) scored the final three runs of the game to win the first game by a 6-3 score.

Monday's split gave SRU 16 wins in its last 22 games and a 23-13 overall record as it prepares for Friday's 1 p.m. home game at Jack Critchfield Park vs. PSAC-West rival Lock Haven.

Kosik, who also clobbered a two-run circuit clout in the fourth inning, was one of six Rock players who had multiple hits in the second game, when The Rock collected a total of 15 safeties.

Sophomore third baseman Jamison Walck led the hit parade with three. Kosik and four other players had two hits each. Included in that group was senior first baseman Nick Caito, who had two RBI doubles in a substitute role.

Kosik's fourth-inning blast was the third and final two-run shot hit by The Rock.
Senior right fielder Mitchell Monas got things started with his first HR of the season, a second-inning blast, before senior center fielder Matt Howard clobbered his fifth of the season in the third inning.

Howard's homer gave SRU a 4-1 lead, but the hosts came right back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the third to cut the deficit to one run, 4-3.

Two batters into the fourth, SRU stretched its lead to 6-3 on the strength of Kosik's first roundtripper of the season and the game.

The Rock kept its foot on the pedal following Kosik's home run and extended their lead to 8-3 thanks to a bases-loaded wild pitch that allowed two runs to score.

Undaunted, Shippensburg scored four runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth and added another tally in the fifth to knot the score at 8-8.

The Rock came back with a vengeance, though, as they scored three runs in the top of the sixth. Highlights in the inning included a leadoff double by junior left fielder Carter Haponski, a pinch-hit RBI double by senior first baseman Nick Caito, a sacrifice fly by senior shortstop Adam Jury and an RBI single by Walck.

But Shippensburg refused to go quietly. Tyler Uphouse led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run and the Raiders added two more runs to knot the count at 11-11 heading into the final inning.

Jump-started by Kosik's leadoff home run, The Rock erupted for four runs in the top of the seventh to regain the lead and ultimately set the final score at 15-11.

Junior second baseman Lee Foxton, Howard and Caito each added an RBI double in the inning.

Junior southpaw Zach Jeney, normally a starter, was the fourth pitcher used in the game by Messer and retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win.

Sophomore right-hander Nic McCowin, who made his first start of the season for The Rock, lasted only two and one-third innings before being relieved by junior righty Colin McCoy. McCowin allowed three earned runs on two hits, struck out two and walked three in his time on the mound.

McCoy had an even shorter stint on the mound as he pitched only one and one-third innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits without a strikeout or walk.

Paskert relieved McCoy in the bottom of the fourth and finished his day with four runs allowed on five hits, one strikeout and two walks. He picked up the win to even his season record at 1-1.

In the first game, The Rock manufactured two runs in the top of the second inning to take an early lead. Ingredients used in the construction of those runs included a pair of walks, three wild pitches, a single by Monas and a ground out by freshman catcher Kevin Jovanovich.

Shippensburg threatened to answer The Rock rally with one of their own, but had a potential run gunned down at home plate while trying to advance two bases on a Rock fielding error.

The Raiders came right back in the bottom of the third to score a run on a leadoff double by Tyler Uphouse, a wild pitch and another Rock fielding error.

SRU answered that run with one in the top of the fourth thanks to back-to-back singles by Howard and senior first baseman Derek DiRuscia and an RBI double by Monas.

The Rock had an opportunity to do further damage in that same inning as they had runners on second and third bases with only one out. Those runners were stranded, though, by a fly out and a strikeout.

Shippensburg added the proverbial “salt to the wound” when it scored two runs on a pair of hits, the third Rock error of the game, a hit batsman and a walk in the bottom of the fourth to tie the score at 3-3.

The Raiders scored two runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth to take their first lead of the game, 5-3, and added their final run in the bottom of the seventh off Rock relief pitcher John Kovalik.

Rock starting pitcher Jason Steen was tagged with the loss and saw his season record drop to 1-4. The junior southpaw allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits, struck out one and walked three in four and one-third innings of action.

Kovalik allowed one earned run on three hits in the final one and two-thirds innings.

DiRuscia and Monas each had two hits to headline a Rock offensive attack that managed only five hits in the first game.

Notes:

The Rock, after hitting 11 home runs in the first 31 games this spring, have clobbered eight in the last three games … Jury was named Monday afternoon as the PSAC-West “Player of the Week” after hitting .438 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in four games the week ending April 17. He was the third member of The Rock squad to earn a “Player of the Week” honor in as many weeks. Howard and Haponski were recognized April 4 and 11, respectively … As a team, SRU was tied for third place in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II Atlantic Regional poll and received votes in the American Baseball Coaches Association national poll. Both polls were released prior to Monday's games ... The Rock's regular right fielder, junior Derek Carr sat out Monday's game after being injured in Sunday's second game vs. Indiana.