SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team's time at the Pennsylvania State Conference Athletic Tournament came to an end Thursday night following a 4-2 loss to East Stroudsburg University at Jack Critchfield Park.
 
The game was the second of the day for Slippery Rock - SRU also dropped its contest earlier in the day to Millersville University to set up Thursday night's elimination game against East Stroudsburg.
 
The Rock exits the PSAC Tournament with an overall record of 33-16. Despite being eliminated from the conference tournament, SRU's season is more than likely still not over as it has a strong chance to earn one of the five at-large berths into the NCAA Tournament out of the Atlantic Region.
 
Slippery Rock enters the weekend ranked fourth in the most recent Atlantic Region rankings. Conference tournament champions from the PSAC and Mountain East Conference both earn automatic berths into the national tournament from the Atlantic Region along with the next five highest-ranked teams.
 
SRU will officially learn its postseason fate when the NCAA selection committee reveals the 2022 56-team tournament field 10 p.m. Sunday in a live selection show on NCAA.com.
 
Joe Ehland went 2-for-2 with a double and a pair of walks while Joel Spishock was 2-for-4 with one walk as well. Luke Trueman drove in one run and Connor Hamilton went 1-for-3 with a run and two walks.
 
Abraham Mow, Jon Kozarian and Koby Bubash had one hit apiece with Alex Robenolt scoring a run as well to round out The Rock's offensive leaders.
 
Freshman Ethan Edkins (6-1) suffered his first loss of the season on the mound after allowing three runs on five hits and two walks over two innings.
 
Ricky Mineo, who was making his second relief appearance in as many days, came on for Edkins and delivered a strong outing with just one run allowed on three hits and three walks to go with five strikeouts in six innings of work.
 
Following a scoreless opening inning, each team plated runs in the second as Trueman drove an RBI-single through while ESU countered with two runs before Edkins got out of the jam with the bases loaded and relative little damage done.
 
However, the Warriors added to their lead an inning later with a solo home run by Brock Kaufman. Edkins walked one batter following the homer before being replaced by Mineo who allowed one run in the fourth prior to Slippery Rock ending ESU's string of consecutive runs in the top of the fifth.
 
With one out in the fifth, Hamilton drove a ball that bounced off the centerfield wall. He went on to take third on a wild pitch before scoring via a fielding error by East Stroudsburg to cut the Warriors' lead to 4-2 after four-and-a-half innings.
 
SRU loaded the bases for the second time of the game in the sixth, but East Stroudsburg reliever Justin Guidos was able to shut down the rally attempt by forcing an inning-ending strikeout.
 
Mineo continued to keep the ESU bats in check over the remainder of the game, but Slippery Rock could never quite complete its comeback bid as it left one runner on base in the seventh and the bases loaded in the eighth leading to the ninth wheere Tommy Dunleavy came on to strikeout the side and finish off the game.
 
All told, Slippery Rock left 14 runners on base Thursday night.
 
ESU starter Chase Nowak (8-0) was the pitcher of record for the Warriors after limiting The Rock to two runs, one earned, on four hits and three walks in five innings. Guidos, who pitched two scoreless innings in middle relief, served as the bridge between Nowak and Dunleavy.
 
East Stroudsburg improves to 36-16 and moves on to day three of the tournament where it will play the loser of Friday Millersville-Mercyhurst contest, which will start at 11 a.m., in another elimination game 3 p.m. Friday at Critchfield Park.





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