Game 2 boxscore

CLARION, Pa. – Slippery Rock University scored 22 runs and collected 24 hits Saturday afternoon en route to a 12-1, 10-5 doubleheader sweep of hosting Clarion in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division baseball action.

The sweep, SRU's first since the opening weekend vs. Ohio Valley (W. Va.), gave The Rock a season-best three-game win streak heading into their 1 p.m. nine-inning single game Sunday vs. Mansfield at Jack Critchfield Park in Slippery Rock.

Saturday's sweep, which gave The Rock a 3-1 advantage in the weekend series vs. the Golden Eagles, also improved SRU's season records to 13-17-1 overall and 6-6 against division rivals.

Clarion saw its season records fall to 6-16 overall, 5-7 in division action.

Five players who each had at least three hits and two RBIs in the twinbill paced the Rock offensive effort Saturday.

Senior center fielder/team captain Carter Haponski and senior third baseman Lee Foxton (pictured) each collected four hits on the day. Haponski also scored four runs and had three RBIs, while Foxton scored three runs and picked up two RBIs.

Senior right fielder Derek Carr, sophomore shortstop Will Kengor and junior first baseman John Shaffer each had three hits. Carr scored three runs and picked up three RBIs, Kengor scored one run and had three RBIs and Shaffer scored two runs and collected four RBIs.

Foxton had three doubles in Game 2 to lead The Rock's extra-base hit parade while Carr, Shaffer and sophomore catcher Kevin Jovanovich each had one double.

The Rock scored three runs in the top of the third inning of Game 1 and added six tallies in the fourth and three in the fifth to put the game away. Clarion scored its only run in the bottom of the sixth inning, after The Rock had built a 12-0 lead.

A leadoff double by Jovanovich and RBI singles by Haponski and Shaffer headlined The Rock's third-inning rally.

Haponski and junior second baseman Matt Curtis each had an RBI single in the fourth. Kengor picked up an RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, junior designated hitter Ben Bechtol got an RBI with a bases-loaded walk and Foxton pushed across a run with a bases-loaded ground out to round out the run producers.

Kengor smacked a two-run single and Carr had an RBI double in the fifth to conclude The Rock's Game 1 scoring.

Sophomore right-hander Lou Trivino was the beneficiary of an 11-hit Rock offensive attack, but he also did his part to make sure the Green and White got the win.

Trivino allowed only one earned run on five hits, struck out nine and walked two in a seven-inning, complete-game pitching performance, his fourth in seven starts this spring, and improved his season record to 5-2.

John Kovalik, another sophomore right-hander, got the Game 2 win in relief of starting pitcher Nic McCowin.

Kovalik allowed three earned runs on four hits, struck out four and walked five in four innings of work to improve his season record to 2-3.

McCowin yielded two earned runs on two hits, struck out two and walked three in the first three innings.

Foxton's three doubles in four at-bats paced a 13-hit Rock offensive attack in Game 2. Haponski, Kengor, Shaffer (double) and senior catcher Matt Accardi each added a pair of hits.

The Rock scored three runs in the top of the second inning, keyed by an RBI double by Foxton, an RBI single by Haponski and a sacrifice fly by Bechtol.

Foxton's second double of the game set the stage for the fourth Rock run, which came home on a sacrifice fly by Accardi.

A two-run home run by Clarion's Jon Kemmer in the bottom of the third cut The Rock lead in half and made it a 4-2 game after three frames.

Undaunted, The Rock came right back with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth, keyed by an RBI single by Shaffer, to push the lead to 6-2.

Clarion scored one run in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 6-3 game before SRU erupted for four runs in the top of the fifth to ice the win. Key hits in the uprising were a two-run double by Shaffer and a two-run single by Carr.

Down by a 10-3 score, the Golden Eagles scored one run in the bottom of the fifth and one more in their final at-bat in the bottom of the seventh to set the final margin.

Division standings – The PSAC-West standings at the end of the third of seven weekends of divisional action show Gannon (18-12 overall) atop the standings with an 8-4 PSAC-West record, followed by California (17-13) and Mercyhurst (21-8) both at 5-3 and The Rock at 6-6. Clarion and Lock Haven (10-17-1) are each one game behind SRU in the division standings at 5-7 while Indiana (14-15-1) sits in the basement at 2-6. But, indicative of the competitiveness within the division this spring, Indiana bombed Mercyhurst 18-0 in the first game of their doubleheader last Friday.

The Rock has a bye from PSAC-West action next weekend, when they will host Fairmont State in a four-game series, before meeting Mercyhurst, the defending conference champion, in a weekend series April 13-14.

Notes:

Sunday's game vs. Mansfield opens a seven-game homestand for The Rock, who when it's all said and done will have played nine of 11 games at home between last Friday and April 13. The Rock then play six of their final 10 regular-season games on the road … Carr, after missing the previous 12 games due to a shoulder injury, celebrated his return to action with eight hits in 16 at-bats, five runs scored, five RBIs, two doubles and one home run in the four-game series vs. Clarion. That effort raised his batting average 62 points to .323 … Haponski was 8-for-14 with six runs scored and five RBIs vs. Clarion to improve his batting average to .385 and his RBI total to 22, both of which are team-high marks … Kengor had a .341 average, Bechtol was hitting .325 and Foxton had a .307 average after Saturday's action … As a team, The Rock hit .370 (44 for 119) in the four-game series vs. Clarion to improve its cumulative batting average to .287 … The Rock pitching staff, meanwhile, held Clarion to 20 hits in the four games and lowered its team ERA 21 points to 4.30 … Senior southpaw Zach Jeney and Trivino lead the pitching staff with a 1.85 and 1.88 ERA, respectively … SRU had scored 10 or more runs in four of their first 28 games this spring before putting up a double-digit run total in the final three games of the series vs. Clarion.