AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- Slippery Rock University scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back Thursday en route to an 8-5 win over No. 5 Seton Hill University at Lake Myrtle Park in the opening game of The Rock's 10-game spring-break schedule.

The win was SRU's second consecutive and fourth in nine outings this spring.

Thursday's win was believed to be SRU's first over a top-10 team since the 1989 season, when The Rock earned a third-place finish in the NCAA Division II national tournament.

Seton Hill, which was ranked fifth in the American Baseball Coaches Association D-II national poll released last Monday, lost for only the third time in 11 games this spring, but suffered a setback for the second time in its last three games.

Junior second baseman Matt Curtis and senior left fielder Carter Haponski each collected two RBIs to lead The Rock's offensive attack.

Haponski, The Rock's team captain, was also one of four Rock players with two hits in the game.

Sophomore right-hander Lou Trivino (left) pitched the first seven and two-thirds innings, struck out six, walked five, hit two batters and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits  to pick up the win, his second in three decisions this spring.

Sophomorre righty Anthony Naso relieved Trivino, struck out one, walked two and allowed three runs (two earned) on one hit in two-thirds of an inning.

Sophomore righty John Kovalik was called upon to put out a bases-loaded, one-out fire in the bottom of the ninth inning and promptly induced two ground balls to slam the door on Seton Hill's final rally and pick up a save.

Curtis' two-run, opposite-way double down the right field line in the top of the sixth inning proved to be the game-winning hit as it gave The Rock a 6-2 lead.

One batter later, senior center fielder Derek Carr, who like Haponski had two hits in the game, slapped an RBi double into the left-center field gap to make it a 7-2 game. Junior first baseman John Shaffer's RBI single to center field in the sevneth plated the final Rock run.

Senior third baseman Lee Foxton and sophomore shortstop Will Kengor also had a pair of hits in the game.

Haponski had a two-run single and Kengor and junior right fielder Brandon Myers each added an RBI single to account for SRU's four first-inning tallies.

Seton Hill came right back to manufacture a run in the bottom of the first from a hit batsman, a wild pickoff throw by Trivino and a ground out.

The Griffins used three singles to score their second run in the bottom of the third, then were silent until their final at-bat, when they scored three runs to set the final margin.

Trivino was aided by a pair of double plays turned by his infielders to thwart other potential Seton Hill scoring rallies.

On the negative side, SRU had three baserunners picked off first base during the game.

SRU returns to action Friday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Notre Dame College of Ohio at Lake Myrtle Park.



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