Game 1 boxscore
Game 2 boxscore

AUBURNDALE, Fla. --Sophomore southpaw Zach Jeney pitched six and two-thirds strong innings Saturday afternoon to lead the Slippery Rock University baseball team to a Game 2 win and a doubleheader split vs. nationally ranked Ashland University.

Behind Jeney's lead, The Rock recorded an 8-5 win over the Eagles (4-2) after the Ohio squad had rolled to a 16-3 win in the first game of the doubleheader at Lake Myrtle Park.

Saturday's split was the second in as many days on The Rock's annual spring-break trip to the Sunshine State and the fourth in as many twinbills this spring.

SRU will put a 4-4 record on the line Sunday when it takes on Minnesota State in a nine-inning game at 3 p.m.

Jeney struck out 10 batters and walked two en route to his second win in as many starts this spring. He had a two-hit shutout going after six innings before he ran out of gas.

Ashland scored five runs, three of which were earned, on four hits in the bottom of the seventh inning and had the bases loaded with two outs before senior Don Pugliese got a game-ending strikeout to pick up his second save of the season.

The Rock pounded out 13 hits on offense with five players collecting two hits to lead the effort.

Junior center fielder Matt Howard had two hits, including his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that helped push SRU to a 5-0 lead before junior right fielder Mitchell Monas slapped a three-run double in the fifth inning to extend the margin to 8-0.

Junior catcher/first baseman Derek DiRuscia had two hits, including an RBI double in the top of the first inning that gave The Rock an early lead. Junior shortstop Adam Jury had two hits, including an RBI double as part of SRU's four-run fifth inning.

Seniors Billy Messer and Jacob Oswalt each also had two hits as part of the winning effort.

Sophomore right fielder Matt Kosik had a pair of hits, including an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning, to lead a seven-Rock hit attack in Game 1. DiRuscia and Howard had a double each for The Rock and freshman third baseman Jamison Walck clobbered a triple.

Ashland, which was ranked 12th last week in the American Baseball Coaches Association Division II national poll and 17th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association national poll, had 11 hits in Game 1. The Eagles collected six hits and scored 10 runs (6 earned) in the first four and one-third innings off Rock starting and losing pitcher Vince Lloyd (0-1).