SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Freshman Ricky Mineo and sophomore Joe Dombrowski combined to pitch a no-hitter in game two of Thursday's doubleheader at Jack Critchfield Park to help the Slippery Rock University baseball team earn a split against Wheeling Jesuit University.
 
The Rock dropped the opener to the Cardinals, 9-5, before coming back to pick up a 7-2 victory in game two behind Mineo and Dombrowski. The non-conference doubleheader split moves The Rock's record to 8-13 overall while Wheeling Jesuit exits Slippery Rock at 6-21 in 2019.
 
While not the cleanest of no-hitters, SRU did match a season-high with 10 walks in addition to three errors and one batter that was hit by a pitch, Mineo and Dombrowski do give Slippery Rock its first no-hitter since former standout, and current Oakland A's reliever, Lou Trivino held Bloomsburg University hitless on March 2, 2013.
 
Mineo took the mound to start the nightcap following The Rock's game-one loss. After pitching a perfect first inning he surrendered one run in the second when Lucas Rawlins scored on a wild pitch after leading the inning off with a walk and advancing to second on an errant pickoff attempt.
 
Mineo put two more runners on base in the third inning via walks before getting out of the jam by forcing a fly out and recording a strikeout on back-to-back batters for the inning's second and third outs.
 
The Cardinals once again appeared poised to extend their lead in the fourth when Mineo put the opening two batters of the frame on base, but Dombrowski came on in relief of Mineo and proceed to register three consecutive strikeouts to keep WJU's lead at one run.
 
Wheeling Jesuit did manage to add another run in the fifth when a wild pitch and a throwing error allowed Nick Serafino, who walked to lead off the inning, to score and put the Cardinals ahead 2-0.
 
However, The Rock's bats finally came alive in the bottom of the fifth. Kyle Bowser started the big inning with an RBI-double that plated Luke Trueman followed by a two-run single from Frankie Jezioro that gave The Rock a 3-2 lead it would never relinquish. Slippery Rock went on to add three more runs in the inning off of a two-run double by Abraham Mow and a sacrifice fly by Tyler Merigliano.
 
Dombrowski worked around a two-out walk in the sixth and Slippery Rock added an additional insurance run in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Joe Campagna RBI-single to give SRU a five-run edge heading into the Cardinals' final set of at-bats.

WJU put its first two batters of the seventh on base on a walk and fielding error, but Dombrowski settled down and produced back-to-back strikeouts to squash the momentum. He would surrender a final walk to load the bases before forcing Hayden Hizer to fly out to end the game and give Slippery Rock the split-clinching 7-2 win.
 
Mineo went three innings for The Rock, allowing one unearned run on six walks to go with six strikeouts. Dombrowski (1-0) earned the win after giving Slippery Rock four innings of great relief work with one unearned run allowed on four walks while striking out a career-best nine batters. Mineo and Dombrowski combined to throw a team season-high 15 strikeouts.
 
Slippery Rock posted 10 hits in the game-two win. Jezioro, Campagna and Alex Robenolt all tallied two-hit contests with Jezioro scoring two runs, driving in two more and stealing one base. Jon Kozarian, Mow, Trueman and Bowser accounted for The Rock's other four hits.
 
The Rock's win in game two came after an opener in which SRU took a 2-1 lead into a fifth inning in which Wheeling Jesuit took advantage of three Rock errors on the way to a seven-run frame that gave the Cardinals an 8-2 lead that Slippery Rock could ultimately never recover from on the way to its four-run defeat.
 
Kozarian led the way for Slippery Rock in game one, going 2-for-3 with one run, three RBI and his first collegiate home run. Trueman also went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a double.
 
Colin Cain (1-2) was Slippery Rock's starting pitcher in game one. He lasted four innings, giving up five runs, only two of which were earned, on four hits and three walks. JT Wolke and Alex Worthington threw the final three innings out of the bullpen for SRU.
 
The Rock quartet of Jezioro, Campagna, Trueman and Kozarian each had at least one hit in both games.
 
Jezioro pushed his hitting streak to 11 games by combining to go 3-for-8 with two runs scored and two RBI. Campagna stretched his reached base streak to 21 contests after a doubleheader that saw him go 3-for-7 with one run and one RBI.
 
In addition to hitting his first home run, Kozarian was 3-for-6 with two runs and three RBI. Finally, Trueman went 3-for-6 over the two games with three runs scored.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift its focus to a weekend Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division series against Clarion University. The Rock will host the Golden Eagles for two games Saturday at Jack Critchfield Park followed by a doubleheader on Sunday at Clarion. First pitch of game one on both days is set for 1 p.m.
 
 
 

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