Game 1 boxscore
Game 2 boxscore
Postgame video interview
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team came up short in a shootout and rode a shutout pitching effort to score a split in Tuesday afternoon's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doubleheader vs. Lock Haven at Jack Critchfield Park.
Lock Haven jumped on Rock starting pitcher Joby Lapkowicz for seven runs in the first two innings in the first game of the day, but needed an extra inning to subdue SRU by a 9-8 score.
Rock senior right-hander George Hebert made sure the Bald Eagles didn't fly home with a sweep, though, as he pitched a two-hit shutout in the second game. The Rock scored five runs to support his effort.
The split gave the Green and White a 26-14 overall record and a 14-6 mark against PSAC-West rivals.
Most importantly, the split kept The Rock one-half game ahead of second-place Mercyhurst in the division standings heading into the pivotal weekend series between the teams.
The Rock and Lakers (31-9, 13-6 PSAC-W) are scheduled to open their four-game series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday in Erie before closing out the set with a 4 p.m. twinbill Saturday at Critchfield Park.
Had it not been for the 7-1 deficit they faced after one and one-half innings of Tuesday's first game, The Rock, who recorded 5-0 and 3-0 wins last Saturday in Lock Haven, very well may have recorded a four-game sweep of the season series vs. the Bald Eagles.
The Rock scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday to tie the score at 8-8 and also had the potential winning run 90 feet from home plate in a bases-loaded, one-out situation but could not get the runner home. A pair of flyouts left the sacks full.
Lapkowicz allowed seven runs on seven hits, struck out one, walked one and hit one batter in one-plus innings of work.
Freshman right-hander John Kovalik pretty much shut down the Lock Haven attack during his five-inning stint on the mound in relief of Lapkowicz.
Kovalik allowed one earned run on three hits, struck out seven, walked three and hit one batter to keep The Rock within striking distance.
Junior righty Nic McCowin struck out one batter and retired the Bald Eagles in order in the top of the seventh to set the stage for The Rock's game-tying rally in the bottom half of that frame.
Freshman righty Ryan Oglesby wound up as the losing pitcher after he allowed one run on two hits and struck out two in the top of the eighth. The loss was his first in five decisions this spring.
The proverbial thorn in The Rock's side throughout the game was Lock Haven center fielder Matt McCamley, who collected six RBIs in the game.
McCamley gave the Bald Eagles a 2-0 lead with a first-inning home run, followed that with a three-run blast as part of the guests' five-run second-inning uprising and capped off his first-game effort with an RBI single in the top of the 10th that plated the winning run.
The Bald Eagles, who were held to only four hits in two games last Saturday, collected 12 hits in Tuesday's first game.
Senior first baseman Derek DiRuscia smacked a pair of RBI doubles to lead an 11-hit Rock attack in Tuesday's first game. Junior right fielder Derek Carr and sophomore third baseman Jamison Walck each had two hits and one RBI.
The Rock had six extra-base hits in the game. Carr slapped a leadoff triple and scored SRU's first run on DiRuscia's first double in the bottom of the first inning. Junior left fielder Carter Haponski had an RBI double in the second inning and junior catcher Matt Accardi doubled home senior designated hitter Mitchell Monas, who had slapped a one-out double, in the fourth inning.
Key hits in The Rock's game-tying four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning included an RBI single by senior center fielder Matt Howard, DiRuscia's second RBI double of the game and an RBI single by Walck. The tying run scored on a one-out, bases-loaded balk by Lock Haven relief pitcher Tyler Golden.
Monas was intentionally walked immediately after the balk to reload the bases with one out, but Accardi popped out to second base and Haponski flew out to right field to leave the potential winning run standing at third base.
The Rock put that missed opportunity behind them and took a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of Tuesday's second game, again on the strength of extra-base hits. Haponski and Howard slapped back-to-back one-out doubles to plate the run.
SRU expanded its lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning on singles by freshman second baseman Will Kengor, Haponski, Howard (RBI) and senior shortstop Adam Jury (RBI).
Carr's second triple of the day allowed freshman catcher Kevin Jovanovich, who had walked with one out in the fourth, to score The Rock's fourth run.
Jovanovich concluded the scoring with a solo home run, his first roundtripper of the season, off the scoreboard in right field in the bottom of the sixth.
The nine-hit Rock offensive attack was more than enough to record the victory thanks to a gutsy pitching effort by Hebert, who was the third Rock pitcher to blank Lock Haven in the four-game series. Junior left-hander Zach Jeney pitched a no-hit shutout in last Saturday's opening game before Oglesby and fellow freshman right-hander Lou Trivino combined for a four-hit shutout in the second game.
Hebert struck out five and walked two en route to his second complete-game effort of the season and fourth win in seven decisions this spring.
Notes:
The Rock learned before the game Wednesday they had retained the No. 5 spot in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional poll that will ultimately determine the six teams that compete in the regional tournament … SRU was ranked third in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association regional poll, which has no bearing upon the NCAA rankings … The Rock received votes in both the NCBWA and American Baseball Coaches Association national polls … The Rock has now recorded 25 or more wins in nine consecutive seasons and 16 of the last 17 seasons dating back to 1994.
