Game 2 boxscore

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team split a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division doubleheader Sunday afternoon against visiting Indiana (Pa.) at Jack Critchfield Park.

The Rock won Game 1 by a 5-3 score before they lost Game 2 by a 7-6 score.

Sunday's split was SRU's 10th in 19 doubleheaders this spring, while the Game 2 loss gave the Green and White (22-20-1 overall, 10-10 PSAC-West) a 5-11 record in one-run games.

Junior third baseman Jamison Walck's two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning plated the eventual winning run in Game 1 before sophomore utility player Graeme Zaparzynski's RBI single plated an insurance run.

IUP did not go quietly, though. Down by a 5-1 score, the Crimson Hawks (21-23-1 overall, 7-13 PSAC-W) scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning and had the bases loaded when the final out was recorded.

The Rock held a 6-2 lead after two innings of Game 2 but were unable to generate any offense against IUP's third pitcher of the game, Brett Quiggle.

Quiggle held The Rock scoreless on only one hit in the final five and two-thirds innings to pick up the come-from-behind win.

The most painful part of the Game 2 loss, which was only The Rock's fourth defeat in their last 16 games, was the impact it could have on SRU's bid for a berth in the conference tournament.

A Game 2 win would have moved The Rock into a tie with California (Pa.) for third place in the PSAC-West and also given the Green and White a two-game cushion over fifth-place Lock Haven heading into the final four-game series of division competition.

Instead, The Rock enter the final weekend of the regular season one game behind California (24-20 overall, 11-9 PSAC-West) and one game ahead of Lock Haven (16-25-1, 9-11 PSAC-W) in the division standings.

The relevance of that is, the top four teams in the division at the end of the regular-season will advance to the PSAC Championships, which will be held May 2-5 at Pullman Park in Butler.

The Rock and California will meet head-on Friday at Consol Energy Park in Washington, Pa. and next Saturday at Critchfield Park in a crucial four-game series. Lock Haven, meanwhile, takes on IUP in its final series.

SRU scored its first Game 1 run Sunday without the benefit of a base hit. Senior center fielder Derek Carr got a leadoff walk and stole second. He then advanced to third when IUP misplayed a rundown between second and third bases and scored during a delayed double steal in which junior designated hitter Ben Bechtol, who had also walked, was put out.

IUP threatened to answer The Rock's tally with at least one of its own in the top of the second inning before Rock starting and winning pitcher Lou Trivino induced a double-play grounder to work out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam.

Carr's speed also produced The Rock's second run. He led off the bottom of third with a single up the middle, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Bechtol and scored on a seeing-eye, two-out single up the middle by sophomore shortstop Will Kengor.

Kengor (pictured) had a pair of singles in the game to lead a six-hit Rock attack. He was the only Rock player with more than one hit.

IUP trimmed The Rock lead in half (2-1) with a run on two hits in the top of the fourth inning before SRU scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to take the aforementioned 5-1 lead.

Trivino continually and successfully navigated the minefield that came in the form of an IUP offense ranked fourth in the conference in hitting (.307 team batting average) to record his eighth win of the season against two losses.

The sophomore right-hander, who the previous weekend earned both conference and regional Pitcher of the Week honors, struck out three and walked five in his sixth complete-game performance of the season. He gave up three runs (two earned) on nine hits.

Sophomore righty John Kovalik was tagged with the Game 2 loss in relief of starter Joby Lapkowicz. Kovalik allowed five earned runs on seven hits and walked three in four and two-thirds innings.

Lapkowicz lasted only two-thirds of an inning before departing with an undisclosed injury. The junior southpaw walked four batters and gave up two earned runs in his short stint.

Senior righty Nic McCowin pitched the final one and two-thirds innings and allowed one hit while striking out one and walking one.

IUP took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning of Game 2 as a result of the bases on balls issued by Lapkowicz.

In the bottom of the first, Carr's quickness again paid dividends for The Rock as he got a leadoff walk, stole second, went to third when the throw from the catcher sailed into center field and scored on junior first baseman John Shaffer's RBI single to make it a 2-1 game.

The Rock came right back to score five runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 6-2 lead, aided greatly by a dropped fly ball in left field that would have been the second out of the inning.

Kengor had a two-run double down the left-field line and Bechtol and Zaparzynski each added an RBI single during the outburst. Shaffer also received an RBI with a bass-loaded walk.

Buoyed by Quiggle's shutdown pitching effort, IUP trimmed The Rock's lead after two innings down to 6-4 with two runs in the top of the third and got another run in the fourth to make it a 6-5 game.

Aaron Lupia's two-run double with one out in the top of the sixth completed the Crimson Hawks' comeback as it pushed across the tying and eventual winning runs.

Shaffer and Kengor, two of five Rock players with one hit each in Game 2, each picked up a pair of RBIs to lead the losing effort.

Notes:

Trivino's win Sunday moved him into a tie for sixth place on SRU's single-season wins chart ... The Rock defense turned two double plays Sunday to raise its season total to 34, the most since the 2008 team also turned 34.