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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University baseball team will open the 2022 NCAA Tournament 1 p.m. Thursday against Seton Hill University at Serpico Stadium in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
• All tickets will be sold onsite and will be CASH ONLY.
• Adults - $10
• Senior Citizens (65+) - $5
• Students - $5
• Children (under 5) - $2
• There are no complementary tickets / pass list.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
• Live video and in-game statistics are being provided free of charge by the West Chester Sports Information Office. Links to all live coverage options can be found throughout this preview and on SRU's schedule page (LINK).
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV - "ROCK ATHLETICS DIGITAL NETWORK" APPS
• Fans can watch Thursday's game vs. Seton Hill – and every game SRU plays this weekend - live and on-demand for free on the Rock Athletics Digital Network, created and operated by the SRU athletic communication office.
 
• Search for Rock Athletics Digital Network in the app stores on Amazon Fire TV, Apple RV, Roku and Android TV devices. The streaming web player linked above will also integrate with Chrome Cast devices to allow viewers to cast the game to those devices.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME 1
Opponent: Seton Hill University
Date: May 19 – 1 p.m.
Location: Serpico Stadium – West Chester, Pennsylvania
Live Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: SHU leads 26-20
Last Played: April. 16, 2022 (SRU swept a DH)
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT FORMAT
• The NCAA Tournament is comprised of 56 teams, 22 automatic berths and 34 at-large selections, spanning eight regions. The championship preliminary round competition provides for 16 regional sites that consist of either three-team or four-team, double-elimination tournaments that will be conducted May 19-22.
 
• The winners of those regional-round competitions advance to a super-regional round May 27-28 that consist of two teams competing in a best-of-three series. The eight super-regional champions will advance Division II College World Series June 4-11 in Cary, North Carolina.
 
A LOOK AT THE ATLANTIC REGION
• Overall, seven teams from the Atlantic Region qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Millersville and Charleston garnered automatic bids after winning the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and Mountain East Conference tournaments, respectively, while West Chester, Gannon, Slippery Rock, Seton Hill and East Stroudsburg each received at-large berths.
 
• West Chester and Millersville were awarded the top seeds in the region and will both serve as regional host sites. Gannon enters the NCAA Tournament as the third seed followed by The Rock, Seton Hill, East Stroudsburg and Charleston.
 
REGIONAL SCHEDULE
• The loser of Thursday's opening game between Slippery Rock and Seton Hill will play host West Chester 5 p.m. Thursday in a potential elimination contest for the game one loser.
 
• Meanwhile, the winner of Thursday's game between SRU and SHU will have the rest of the day off in preparation for a game 11 a.m. Friday against either West Chester (if WCU wins game two on Thursday) or a re-match of game one if that team were to defeat West Chester on Thursday afternoon.
 
• From there, another game will be played 3 p.m. Friday with a final game scheduled for 12 p.m. Saturday if necessary.
 
THE ROCK'S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Slippery Rock will be making its 14th NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend, and first since 2007. The Rock's 14 total NCAA Tournament appearances rank third among all PSAC teams behind only Shippensburg (22) and West Chester (15).
 
• Of those 14 appearances, 13 have come under the guidance of head coach Jeff Messer.
 
• SRU holds an all-time tournament record of 24-28 in NCAA Tournament games. The Rock have won four regional championships and advanced to the DII College World Series in 1989, 1997, 2000 and 2003.
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE
• Slippery Rock enters the NCAA Tournament as the fourth seed out of the Atlantic Region following a season in which it went 33-16 overall including a 17-11 PSAC West record. Of its 16 losses, seven came by two runs or less.
 
• In the Atlantic Region, only Millersville (41), East Stroudsburg (37), Charleston (37) and Glenville State (35) had more total victories than Slippery Rock.
 
• Seton Hill closed the 2022 regular season by going 31-17-1 and narrowly missing out on qualifying for the PSAC Tournament with 15-13 league record. The Griffins finished the regular season strong with eight wins in its last 11 games.
 
• SHU is the first team from the PSAC since Millersville in 2017 to qualify for the NCAA Tournament after not playing in the conference tournament.
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT RECAP
• Slippery Rock went 1-2 in last week's PSAC Tournament that was held at Jack Critchfield Park. SRU opened the tournament with a 4-3 victory in 10 innings over Shippensburg before losing a pair of close contests to eventual tournament champion Millersville (5-4) and runner-up East Stroudsburg (4-2).
 
• Jon Kozarian drove in four runs to pace The Rock's offense in the PSAC Tournament while Joe Ehland hit .444 (4-9) over the three games with Koby Bubash also batting .364 (4-11) with three runs and a solo home run.
 
• On the mound, Ricky Mineo made two relief appearances, going 1-0 while allowing just one run with seven strikeouts in 7.2 innings. Relievers, Robert Herr and Andy McClymonds combined to pitch 5.1 shutout innings with just three hits allowed from SRU's bullpen.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. SETON HILL
• Seton Hill holds a 26-20 record against SRU in the all-time series. However, most recently Slippery Rock swept the Griffins in a four-game series during the regular season with 3-2, 15-4, 3-0 and 2-1 wins. Two of those games went to extra innings.
 
• Joel Spishock hit .571 (8-14) with three doubles, a home run and three RBI against Seton Hill in the regular season. Four of Alex Robenolt's six hits against the Griffins in the regular season went for extra bases including a pair of home runs on the way to a five-RBI series.
 
• Connor Hamilton (6-15), Luke Trueman (4-10) and Joe Ehland (4-10) all hit .400 against Seton Hill as well this year with Hamilton supplying two home runs and Trueman belting another as well.
 
• The Rock's starting rotation against Seton Hill of Devin Dunn, Luke Trueman, Ricky Mineo and Ethan Edkins were stellar for SRU as the quartet combined to go 3-0 with a 2.28 ERA over 27.2 innings versus the Griffins. Mineo tossed a three-hit, eight-strikeout complete game shutout while Trueman went 7.2 innings, with just two runs surrendered to go with 11 strikeouts.  
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. WEST CHESTER
• Slippery Rock holds a 22-15 all-time record against West Chester. However, the two teams have not met since SRU's 14-4 win over the Golden Rams in the 2018 PSAC Tournament.
 
HONORS ROLL IN FOR SRU ON THE FIELD
• Slippery Rock had its remarkable season recognized when the PSAC released its all-conference teams a week ago. SRU took two major awards as Jeff Messer was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year for a seventh time while Ethan Edkins was tabbed the division's Freshman of the Year.
 
• The Rock also landed six athletes on the actual All-PSAC West Team including first team honorees pitcher Devin Dunn, catcher Connor Hamilton, designated hitter Eddie Morris and outfielder Alex Robenolt as well as second team selections pitcher Ricky Mineo and utility-pitcher Luke Trueman.
 
…AND IN THE CLASSROOM
• Not just standouts on the field, Slippery Rock also led the region with three CoSIDA Academic All-District selections as Alex Robenolt, Connor Hamilton and Eddie Morris all earned the recognition for their efforts both in the classroom and on the field.
 
MOST WINS SINCE 2009
• Slippery Rock's 33 victories so far this season marks the 19th time in program history in which SRU has won at least 30 games in a year while also serving as the program's highest win total since the 2009 team won 36 games.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
Season Stats: LINK
Overall Record: 33-16
NCAA Tournament Seed: 4th
NCBWA Top-25: Receiving Votes
CBN Top-30: Receiving Votes
Home Record: 20-8
Away Record: 12-7
Neutral Site Record: 1-1
Streak: L2
Last Five Games: 2-3
Head Coach: Jeff Messer | 37th season (1,072-694-5 / .607)
 
ROCK TEAM ATLANTIC REGION RANKINGS
Runs Per Game: t-7th (7.2)
Team Batting Average: 3rd (.332)
Team On-Base Percentage: 4th (.419)
Team ERA: t-8th (4.50)
 
THE ROCK LINEUP
• Seven Slippery Rock starters enter the NCAA Tournament hitting over .300 including three – Koby Bubash (.411), Joel Spishock (.408) and Connor Hamilton (.403) - batting above .400.
 
• Cleanup hitter Alex Robenolt is also hitting .360 followed by Eddie Morris (.338), Abraham Mow (.329) and Joe Ehland (.303). Luke Trueman is on the cusp of joining the group at .296.
 
• Hamilton and Robenolt are tied for the team lead in RBI with 51 apiece. Jon Kozarian (38), Spishock (36) and Morris (32) are all above the 30-RBI plateau as well. Mow and Trueman are poised to hit the 30-RBI threshold as well as the duo enters the weekend with 28 RBI apiece.
 
• As a team, Slippery Rock has hit a single-season program record 70 home runs this year. Hamilton leads the power barrage with 16 home runs – which is also tied for the program single-season individual record. Robenolt has belted 11 home runs to rank second on the team with Spishock (9), Trueman (9), Morris (8), Bubash (5) and Mow (5) all with at least five home runs as well.
 
• Hamilton has reached base in 26 consecutive games. Dating back to the 2012 season, only three other Rock athletes have totaled longer reached base streaks – Joe Campagna (47 / 2018-19), Will Kengor (41 / 2013) and Adam Urbania (34 / 2015).
 
• Bubash (17), Trueman (14) and Kozarian (12) all carry active double-digit reached base streaks into the NCAA Tournament as well. Kozarian's six-game hitting streak is also the longest active such streak for SRU.
 
• Hamilton, Spishock and Kozarian have combined to hit .392 (60-153) with runners in scoring position.
 
THE ROCK PITCHING STAFF
• Devin Dunn leads The Rock's pitching staff with a 9-1 record. Dunn, who is one victory away from tying SRU's single-season wins record, brings a 2.59 ERA into the tournament. He has made 11 starts, spanning 66 innings with 74 strikeouts and a .206 batting average against. Dunn has also logged three complete-game shutouts while combining for a fourth.
 
• Following his two dominant outings in the PSAC Tournament, Ricky Mineo is 6-3 with a 2.87 ERA, 81 strikeouts and a .192 opponent batting average over 59.2 innings of work.
 
• Ethan Edkins' standout rookie campaign has seen the freshman go 6-1 with a 3.16 ERA over 37 innings with a .206 opponent batting average.
 
• Luke Trueman has walked just 12 batters in 65 innings pitched this season. Overall, he is 5-5 with a 4.15 ERA in addition to serving as one of SRU's everyday outfielders.
 
• Andy McClymonds (4-3, 3 saves) has made nine relief appearances this year for SRU and has allowed more than a run in just two of those outings. He was 1-0 with 1.1 scoreless innings pitched against Seton Hill during the year. 
 
• In seven relief appearances this year, Robert Herr has only given up four runs over 13.1 innings with 14 strikeouts and five walks.
 
• Travis Holman has made 11 relief appearances this year, pitching 18 innings and being tied with McClymonds for the team-lead in saves. He picked up his third save of the season with a perfect inning pitched to close out SRU's 2-1 win against Seton Hill in the regular season.
 
• Drew Delaney and Colby Anderson have each pitched in nine games this year out of the bullpen with Robert Herr, Christian Seelhorst, JT Wolke and Tanner Esposito having all pitched in seven games as well.
 
• Eoin Rossman has primarily served as one of The Rock's midweek starters as a freshman. He is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA and 22 strikeouts over 15.1 innings pitched.
 
• Slippery Rock's pitching staff has combined to strikeout out a program single-season record 409 batters this season.
 
SETON HILL PRIMER
Season Stats: Link
Overall Record: 31-17-1
NCAA Tournament Seed: 5th
Home Record: 19-4
Away Record: 8-12
Neutral Site Record: 4-1-1
Streak: W2
Last Five Games: 3-2
Head Coach: Marc Marizzaldi | 19th season (641-333-1 / .658)
 
GRIFFINS TEAM ATLANTIC REGION RANKINGS
Runs Per Game: 22nd (5.3)
Team Batting Average: t-17th (.282)
Team On-Base Percentage: t-17th (.367)
Team ERA: 6th (4.24)
 
TOP SHU HITTERS
Jack Oberdorf: .356 (58-163) – 38 runs – 10 HR – 38 RBI - .428 OBP
Neal McDermott: .308 (40-130) – 21 runs – 2 HR - 21 RBI – .397 OBP
Vincenzo Rauso: .299 (46-154) – 24 runs – 3 HR - 28 RBI – .394 OBP
Owen Sabol: .287 (47-164) – 33 runs – 4 HR - 24 RBI – .384 OBP
 
TOP SHU PITCHERS
Nash Bryan: 3-4 – 11 Saves - 29.2 IP – 2.43 ERA – 48 K / 7 BB - .243 OBA
Kevin Vaupel: 4-2 – 52.2 IP – 4.44 ERA – 56 K / 12 BB - .261 OBA
Caden Wood: 6-2 – 43 IP – 3.35 ERA – 50 K / 14 BB - .197 OBA
Brandon Bergert: 2-0 – 29.1 IP – 2.15 ERA – 28 K / 10 BB - .186 OBA
Andino Vecchiolla: 4-2 – 36 IP – 3.25 ERA – 50 K / 7 BB - .218 OBA
 
WEST CHESTER PRIMER
Season Stats: Link
Overall Record: 29-11
NCAA Tournament Seed: 1st
NCBWA Top-25: 16th
CBN Top-30: 14th
Home Record: 10-4
Away Record: 12-4
Neutral Site Record: 7-3
Streak: L1
Last Five Games: 3-2
Head Coach: Mike LaRosa | Second season at WCU (49 -22 / .690)
 
WCU TEAM ATLANTIC REGION RANKINGS
Runs Per Game: t-1st (8.6)
Team Batting Average: 8th (.297)
Team On-Base Percentage: 7th (.408)
Team ERA: 4th (3.93)
 
TOP WCU HITTERS
Mike Ferrara: .369 (52-141) – 35 runs – 7 HR – 58 RBI - .453 OBP
Zack Wright: .333 (50-150) – 54 runs – 3 HR - 20 RBI – 39 SB - .477 OBP
Justin Horn: .333 (37-111) – 40 runs – 18 SB - 24 RBI – .457 OBP
Luke Cantwell: .304 (45-148) – 34 runs – 9 HR - 43 RBI – .376 OBP
 
TOP WCU PITCHERS
Braeden Fausnaught: 7-2 – 75.1 IP – 3.46 ERA – 98 K / 33 BB - .227 OBA
Joe Sperone.: 6-2 – 49.2 IP – 3.62 ERA – 44 K / 9 BB - .262 OBA
Gabe Rappa: 6-1– 50.2 IP – 3.91 ERA – 41 K / 18 BB - .245 OBA
Kyle Lazer: 4-1 – 3 Saves - 32 IP – 1.69 ERA – 33 K / 8 BB - .235 OBA
Dylan Howanitz: 0-0 – 1 Save – 11.1 IP – 1.59 ERA – 10 K / 4 BB - .211 OBA
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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