GROVE CITY — Slippery Rock was without its manager. Grove City was without its top pitcher.

What the baseball showdown between the Rockets and Eagles didn't lack, however, was hits.

The teams combined for 24 of them, but Slippery Rock bunched its together and took advantage of walks on the way to an 11-3 win at Grove City Wednesday afternoon.

The top two in the Slippery Rock order, brothers Travis and Ryan Lauster, reached base eight of their nine plate appearances.

“They are patient and wait for their pitch,” said Slippery Rock assistant coach Darren Schulz, who was filling in for Nathan McCollough. “I think that filtered down to the whole team today.”

Schulz was managing the team because McCollough was ejected after the final out of the game Monday against Franklin.

The Rockets (7-2, 4-0) broke the game open in the second inning with seven runs, all scored after there were two outs, for a quick 9-1 lead.

“Not only did we do it with two outs, we did it with a lot of two-strike counts,” Schulz said. “We battled. We fouled some pitches off and we put it in play. When you put it between the lines, good things happen, and we run the bases very intelligently.”

The run support was plenty for Slippery Rock starting pitcher Joe Barnhart, who worked out of several jams in the complete-game win.

The senior right-hander gave up 12 hits, but made big pitches when he needed to as the Eagles stranded nine runners on base.

“They got some sticks on him today, but he pitched around it,” Schulz said. “That's why he's our top guy. And when you're playing a rival, he's going to be on the mound.”

Grove City (3-4, 2-2) was hoping to have its top guy, Matt Gordon, on the mound. Gordon, though, has been in and out of the hospital due to an illness and was forced to miss the game.

First-year Grove City coach Bill Herman gave the ball to sophomore Austin Wilson, who was making his first career start.

Wilson didn't make it out of the second inning, striking out one, walking five and hitting a batter.

“Matt has been battling an illness,” Herman said. “He played Monday for us, but was admitted to the hospital after Monday's game. We were hoping he could bounce back and start today's game for us. Not having him on the mound and in the order, we had to adjust.”

Wilson showed some encouraging signs, but also showed the wildness of a young pitcher.

Justin Orlowski relieved him, but didn't record an out. Zack Reddick got the final out of the second inning and finished the game, giving up just two runs in 5 1/3 innings.

“There were some good things,” Herman said. “And some things we need to work on. Zack minimized the damage for us pretty well. We just had that one bad inning. We had two outs and nobody on. But that shows how quickly things can spiral out of control.”

Slippery Rock now has a bit of breathing room in the region. Schulz, though, expects a dogfight in the second half.

“It's a tough region. Teams are scrappy,” Schulz said. “Teams are going to be gunning for us. We value that respect we are getting now and we're going to go forward with it.”

Slippery Rock 270 100 1 — 11 12 2

Grove City 100 000 2 — 3 12 2

W: Joe Barnhart 7IP (3K, 0BB). L: Austin Wilson 1.2IP (1K, 5BB).

Slippery Rock (7-2, 4-0): Travis Lauster 1B 3B, Ryan Lauster RBI, Josh Bowser 2-1B RBI, Jackson Kerchis 2-1B 2-RBI, Joe Barnhart 1B 2-RBI, Tim Butler 2-1B RBI, Jake Arienzo 2B RBI, Matt Badger 1B 2B 2-RBI

Grove City (3-4, 2-2): Jared Sample 2-2B, Kyle Shingledecker 2-RBI, Jordan Anderson 1B, Doug Horner 1B, Wilson 2B, Zack Reddick 2-1B, Dustin Maine 1B, Dennis Brandon 1B, Justin Thompson 1B, Brett Snyder 2-1B

Friday: Slippery Rock at Meadville; Conneaut at Grove City