Boxscore

GREENSBURG, Pa. -- Junior catcher Mitchell Monas slapped an RBI single with one out in the top of the seventh inning Tuesday afternoon to provide the winning margin in a 13-12 win by the Slippery Rock University baseball team in non-conference action against Seton Hill University.

The win improved SRU's season record to 19-18 and gave the Green and White a 2-1 edge in the season series against Seton Hill (25-13), the No. 5 team in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II Atlantic Regional poll.

Monas' game-winning hit allowed junior center fielder Matt Howard to score from second base after he had led off the inning with a double and gave The Rock a 13-11 lead.

But that merely set the stage for a heart-stopping finish to the offensive slugfest in which SRU outhit the hosts by an 18-12 margin and each team scored eight runs in its fifth-inning at bat.

Seton Hill scored one run in the bottom of the ninth inning to trim the margin to one run, 13-12, and had the bases loaded when the final out was recorded.

Junior shortstop Adam Jury was 4-for-6 with two doubles, two RBIs and one run scored to lead The Rock offensive attack. Howard and sophomore right fielder Matt Kosik each added three hits and Kosik and senior designated hitter Jacob Oswalt each collected three RBIs.

Jury's doubles were two of 12 extra-base hits recorded by The Rock. Kosik smacked his team-leading fifth home run, a three-run shot in the fifth inning, while Oswalt hit his third roundtripper of the season, a two-run blast in the fourth and also stroked a double. Senior second baseman Billy Messer had a pair of doubles and junior first baseman Derek DiRuscia and sophomore left fielder Carter Haponski each added one two-bagger.

Sophomore southpaw John Thomas, the second of four pitchers used by veteran Rock head coach Jeff Messer, allowed nine runs (eight earned) on seven hits, struck out two, walked one and hit one batter in two and one-third innings but was nonetheless credited with the win in relief of starter Jason Steen.

He exited the game with The Rock holding a 12-9 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Steen yielded two runs (one earned) on four hits, struck out one and walked two in the first two and one-third innings.

Sophomore right-hander Colin McCoy replaced John Thomas in the bottom of the fifth and allowed one earned run on three hits, struck out two and walked three in three and two-thirds innings before senior righty Justin Thomas pitched the final two-thirds of an inning. He hit one batter but did not allow a hit or a run nor did he strike out or walk a batter.

Howard opened the game with a triple but was left stranded by a lineout, popup and groundout before Seton Hill scored a single run in the bottom of the first inning to take the first lead of the game.

The Rock came right back to score two runs in the top of the second and take a 2-1 lead on RBI doubles by DiRuscia and Oswalt, only to see Seton Hill score a run in the bottom of the third to tie the score at 2-2.

Oswalt's one-out home run in the fourth put The Rock up by a 4-2 margin before Seton Hill got a run back in the bottom of the fourth to trim the margin to one run, 4-3.

That set the stage for a fifth inning that, at least to the players and coaches involved, seemed to never end.

SRU got seven hits, highlighted by Kosik's three-run roundtripper and RBI doubles by Billy Messer, Haponski and Jury, and was helped along by two Seton Hill errors to plate eight runs in the top of the fifth that gave the guests a 12-3 lead.

Undaunted, Seton Hill responded with eight runs on five hits, highlighted by a three-run home run by NCBWA Preseason All-America catcher Pat Trettel and a two-run double by Dave McCarthy, in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 12-11.

Two innings later, Howard's leadoff double and Monas' one-out single produced the eventual winning run.

But Seton Hill did not go quietly. The Griffins loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh and then scored what proved to be its final run on a hit batsman before Justin Thomas was able to slam the door by inducing back-to-back groundouts to the left side of the infield.

SRU will look to extend its current three-game win streak Friday when it hosts Mercyhurst in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Jack Critchfield Park. The Rock and Lakers then close out their four-game season series with a 1 p.m. twinbill Saturday in Erie.

The Rock enters the weekend tied with Gannon (17-17) for fourth place with 11-9 marks in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action, two games behind Mercyhurst (19-17, 10-6 PSAC-West), which is in third place in the division standings.

The top four teams at the end of regular-season play April 24 will earn berths in the PSAC tournament, which will be held April 28-May 1 at Point Stadium in Johnstown.