Game 1 boxscore
Game 2 boxscore

ERIE, Pa. – Freshmen right-handers Lou Trivino and Ryan Oglesby pitched like veterans again Friday afternoon and, in the process, kept the Slippery Rock University baseball team in position to clinch the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division championship.

Trivino (right photo) and Oglesby, who combined for a four-hit shutout last Saturday in Lock Haven, joined forces Friday to hold the conference's top hitting team (.335 team batting average) to only two hits and lead The Rock to a 2-1 win over hosting and 23rd-ranked Mercyhurst College in the second game of Friday's doubleheader between the top two teams in the PSAC-West.

Senior center fielder Matt Howard smacked his team-high sixth home run in the top of the fifth inning to account for what proved to be the winning run in the second game after Mercyhurst had walked away with an 8-2 win in the first game.

The split left The Rock (26-17 overall, 15-7 PSAC-West) one-half game ahead of Mercyhurst (32-10, 14-7 PSAC-W) with two games remaining on SRU's division-game schedule, Saturday's 4 p.m. doubleheader vs. the Lakers at Jack Critchfield Park in Slippery Rock.

The Rock can clinch a share of the division title and the PSAC-West's No. 1 seed in the conference tournament (May 11-14 in Johnstown) with a win Saturday. A Rock would earn SRU its first outright division title since 2003, while a Mercyhurst sweep would give the Lakers the outright division title.

If The Rock and Mercyhurst each win one of Saturday's games, the Lakers would need to beat California (Pa.) in a postponed game May 8 or 9 to earn a share of the division title.

Were it not for the proverbial gut-checks cashed late Friday afternoon by Trivino and Oglesby, The Rock very well might find itself needing a sweep Saturday to earn a share of the division title.

Trivino held Mercyhurst hitless for the first five and one-third innings before he lost his no-hit and shutout bid on the same pitch. The hosts' Bill Gerstenslager singled through the right side of the infield to plate what would prove to be the Lakers' only run of the game.

Ogleby entered the game at that point, with the potential tying run on third base and only one out in the bottom of the sixth, and promptly slammed the door on Mercyhurst's comeback effort. He induced the first two batters who faced him to strike out swinging and hit a harmless popup in the infield.

The Rock relief specialist locked the door on the hosts with an unconventional 1-2-3 retirement of the Lakers in the bottom of the seventh. He allowed a leadoff single, but that runner was quickly picked off first base by a rifle-shot throw from junior catcher Matt Accardi.

Following the pickoff, Oglesby retired the next two hitters on a ground out and a swinging strikeout to record his school record-tying seventh save of the season.

SRU scored its first run of the game and took a lead it would not relinquish in the top of the first inning of the second game. Junior right fielder Derek Carr beat out a bunt single with one out, moved to second on a single to right by Howard and hustled his way around third and across home plate when Mercyhurst was unable to turn a double play on a potential inning-ending ground ball by Rock senior first baseman Derek DiRuscia.

The Rock had runner in scoring position (at second base) with one out again in both the second and third innings but were unable to bring them around.

Howard's solo shot to deep left field leading off the fifth made it a 2-0 game.

Trivino, meanwhile, had the hosts handcuffed as he retired the first seven batters to face him and shrugged off a walk in the third, fourth and fifth frames to keep the Lakers off the scoreboard.

Mercyhurst finally broke Trivino's spell in the bottom of the sixth after SRU had left a runner stranded at third base in the top half of that inning, but Oglesby quickly stopped the bleeding and sealed the win.

Howard singlehandedly matched Mercyhurst's hit total as he collected two hits to lead a seven-hit Rock attack in Friday's second game.

Trivino struck out six, walked four and allowed one run on one hit in his five and one-third innings of work to improve his season record to 4-1.

Oglesby struck out two and allowed one hit in the final one and two-thirds innings to tie Ken Ord (1990) for SRU's single-season saves record.

In Friday's first game, the hosts took advantage of nine bases by balls issued by Rock starting and losing pitcher Zach Jeney (6-2). The Lakers also got an 11-strikeout pitching effort from Eric Aschley (7-1).

Jeney struck out six, hit one batter and gave up six runs (four earned) on four hits in four and one-third innings before giving way to fellow junior southpaw Jason Steen.

Steen allowed two unearned runs on three hits and struck out two in the final one and two-thirds innings.

Mercyhurst, which outhit The Rock by a 7-4 margin in the game, manufactured two runs from three bases on balls, a hit batsman and a single in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

The Lakers went back into construction mode in the bottom of the third and manufactured their third run from three bases on balls and one single into a run and a 3-0 lead.

The Rock, after having a runner on base in each of the first three innings but doing nothing with them, finally got on the scoreboard with two runs in the top of the fourth to trim the deficit to 3-2.

Senior center fielder Matt Howard slapped a leadoff double into the right-center field gap, moved to third on a single through the right side by senior first baseman Derek DiRuscia and scored the first run on an RBI single to right field by sophomore third baseman Jamison Walck. Two batters later, the second run scored on a bases-loaded ground out by junior second baseman Lee Foxton.

Undaunted, the hosts came right back to score three runs on two hits, a base on balls and a Rock throwing error and take a 6-2 lead.

Mercyhurst scored the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the sixth.

Howard's double was the only extra-base hit of the game for SRU. He finished the day with three of The Rock's 11 hits in the twinbill.

Notes:

Mercyhurst was ranked 23rd in last Monday's American Baseball Coaches Association Division II national poll and 17th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association national poll. SRU received votes in both national polls ... Mercyhurst was ranked second in both the NCAA and NCBWA Atlantic Regional polls while SRU was third in the NCBWA poll and fifth in the NCAA poll. The NCAA poll will ultimately determine which six teams advance to the regional tournament May 19-23. The NCBWA poll has no bearing upon the NCAA poll and is designed to merely create interest in and discussion about Division II baseball ... In other PSAC-West action Friday, California and Indiana both locked up conference playoff berths as the result of their split in a head-to-head doubleheader ... The Rock Mercyhurst, California and Indiana will be the four teams competing in the conference tournament May 11-14 at Point Stadium in Johnstown. First-round pairings for the tournament most likely will not be determined until May 8 or 9 due to postponed games that remain to be played and will ultimately determine the final three teams from the PSAC-Eastern Division that will advance to postseason play ... Millersville, the No. 6 team in the NCBWA national poll and the No. 9 team in the ABCA national poll, is the only PSAC-East team to have clinched a berth in the conference tournament. The Marauders, who are ranked first in both the NCAA and NCBWA regional polls, improved their season record to 35-8 Friday with a doubleheader sweep of East Stroudsburg (23-14), the No. 3 team in the NCAA regional poll and the No. 6 team in the NCBWA regional poll.



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