Game 1 boxscore
Game 2 boxscore

ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University baseball team settled for a doubleheader split Friday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action at Gannon University.

The Rock scored a 4-1 win in the first game, but was handed a 1-0 loss in the second game.

The results gave SRU and Gannon identical 11-11 overall records heading into Saturday's 1 p.m. doubleheader at Jack Critchfield Park in Slippery Rock.

Gannon improved its division record to 7-3 with Friday's outcomes, while The Rock stood at 5-5 in PSAC-West action.

Junior center fielder Matt Howard led The Rock offensive attack in Friday's first game as he went 4-for-4 at the plate with a double, two runs scored and two stolen bases.

Junior right fielder Mitchell Monas had two hits, collected two RBIs and stole one base, while senior designater hitter Jacob Oswalt added a double.

Junior right-hander George Hebert pitched his third complete game of the season and picked up his fourth win in five decisions this spring. He struck out eight, walked two and allowed one unearned run on four hits in his seven innings on the mound.

The Rock took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Howard led off the game with a single off the third baseman's glove, stole second and scored on the first of Monas' two RBI singles.

SRU extended its lead to 3-1 with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fifth, keyed by an RBI ground out by junior left fielder Carter Haponski and Monas' second RBI single of the game.

Back-to-back doubles by Oswalt and Howard and a sacrifice fly by Haponski plated the final Rock run in the top of the seventh to make it a 4-0 game.

Gannon then plated an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to set the final score.

The Rock has a chance to get on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning of Friday's second game as it loaded the bases with one out. The threat ended, though, when senior second baseman Billy Messer grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

Neither team threatened thereafter until Gannon got a pair of doubles sandwiched around two outs to score the only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Freshman southpaw Joby Lapkowicz was the hard-luck losing pitcher and saw his season record drop to 1-2. He allowed one earned run on four hits, struck out six and walked two.

The Rock, after collecting nine hits in the first game, was held to only three in the second game. Haponski had a first-inning single and junior shortstop Adam Jury a one-out single in the fourth. 

Freshman third baseman Jamison Walck had SRU's final hit of the game, a double in the seventh inning, but was left stranded when the final out was recorded.

Note: The Rock's non-conference doubleheader at Mansfield, originally scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed until 1 p.m. Monday.