KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team defeated Wayne State University, 9-8, in dramatic fashion Friday to close out its time at the Sunshine State Classic in Kissimmee, Florida.
 
Slippery Rock (7-5) trailed Wayne State (9-7) 6-3 after six and a half innings before scoring six runs over the final three innings capped off by a walk-off single from Ray Scala in the bottom of the ninth that scored Christian Porterfield from third base to give SRU the victory.
 
Scala pinch hit in the eighth inning and drew a walk in his plate appearance of the game prior to his ninth-inning heroics.
 
Abraham Mow and Luca Fuscardo combined to go 5-for-10 with two runs scored and four RBI. Mow was 3-for-5 with two runs, one RBI and a triple followed by a 2-for-5, two-run, three-RBI, one-home run showing by Fuscardo.
 
Tyler Walters drove in three runs while hitting one double while Christian Porterfield hit his team-leading fifth home run of the season. Joe Campagna also went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks.
 
Ryan Tapp got the start on the mound for The Rock and delivered six solid innings, striking out eight batters and scattering four runs on six hits and two walks. Tapp did not allow a run after the second inning.
 
Stephen McKee, Shawn Holman and Tanner Stanz (1-0) all came out of The Rock's bullpen Friday. Stanz earned the win after holding Wayne State to one run in 1.1 innings of work.
 
Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the first inning, Mow roped a leadoff triple to right field and later scored on an RBI-groundout by Fuscardo to make it a one-run game. However, WSU responded with two more runs in the top of the second to stretch its lead out to three runs at 4-1.
 
Slippery Rock got to Wayne State starter Jared Tobey, who entered Friday having not allowed an earned run this season, in the bottom of the fourth inning when Porterfield belted a solo homer to straight away centerfield, cutting The Rock's deficit to two runs.
 
The Rock further cut into Wayne State's lead in the fifth inning when Fuscardo delivered a solo shot over the right field wall that hit off scoreboard 390 feet away in right field to pull SRU to within one of the Warriors.
 
While SRU's offense was busy getting back into the game, Tapp settled in nicely following a shaky opening two innings. Tapp allowed just two base runners from the third through fifth innings. Wayne State did manage to load the bases in the sixth inning, but Tapp recovered to force a fly out to centerfield to end the threat and keep The Rock's deficit at one run.
 
Tapp gave way to McKee in the seventh inning. McKee allowed a leadoff single and following a balk gave up one run when Brad Baldwin hit a triple to deep centerfield. WSU increased its lead to 6-3 when Baldwin scored on a Justin Kelly sacrifice fly. McKee settled in following the early struggles to retire the side without allowing further damage.
 
Slippery Rock loaded the bases in the seventh for the heart of its batting order, which delivered in turn. Fuscardo got the rally going with a run-scoring infield single that was followed by a bases clearing double from Walters to give SRU its first lead of the game at 7-6.
 
Holman came in for McKee in the eighth and was solid for two outs, but Wayne State took advantage of a Rock fielding error and a wild pitch to tie the game up at 7-7 before Stanz, who entered the contest in place of Holman, got out of the inning for The Rock.
 
Not to be out done, Slippery Rock promptly answered back in the bottom half of the frame when Kyle Wise reached on a fielding error followed by a Scala walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. Two batters later Mow ripped a single to right field that plated Wise and put The Rock back ahead 8-7.
 
WSU would not go away however as Ryan Mergener cleared the left-center fence to leadoff the ninth inning and tie the game at 8-8 with the solo homer. The Warriors proceeded to put runners on first and third with one out when Walters made a great diving grab on a bunt attempt before promptly firing over a throw to third base to get the lead runner and end the inning.
 
The bottom of the ninth belonged to Slippery Rock. SRU put its first three batters on base when Porterfield reached on an error followed by back-to-back singles by Campagna and Mitchell Wood. Two batters later, Scala shot a single over the centerfielder's head to score Porterfield from third and give The Rock a 9-8 win.
 
Slippery Rock will open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition with a four-game series March 23-24 against Seton Hill. The Rock and Griffins will play at SHU March 23 and at Jack Critchfield Park on March 24. First pitch of game one on both days is set for 1 p.m.
 
 
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