Nick Guercio’s recent work on his curveball paid big dividends Monday night.

Knoch’s right-hander overcame a rocky start to hold Slippery Rock to six hits in a 3-2 victory at Kelly Automotive Park. His complete game included seven strikeouts and three walks.

“Our pitching coach, Justin Grossman, has been working with Nick to spin his curveball a bit more,” said Knoch coach George Bradley. “He threw it a lot today and got a lot of strikeouts. It was a gutty performance.”

Gutty best describes Guercio’s ability to keep the Rockets off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh. After two outs, he issued back-to-back walks to Ryan Lauster and Dylan Dingel. During Dingel’s at-bat, Lauster stole second base and took third on a passed ball as Guercio faced Danny Williams with runners at first and third.

Guercio got ahead of Slippery Rock’s No . 3 hitter with an 0-2 count. Moments later, he got Williams to chase a curveball out of the zone to end the game.

“I threw my curveball about 50 percent of the time tonight. They (Rockets) weren’t doing too well against it,” said Guercio, who made his third pitching start of the season Monday. “It was important for me to finish what I started. After that first inning, I felt I had to prove myself.”

That first inning featured three base hits by the Rockets, including Williams’ one-out single that plated Lauster for an early 1-0 lead.

Guercio settled in after that, however. He shut out the Rockets over the next four innings. The only two base runners Slippery Rock had in that span came on a walk in the third frame and an error in the fourth.

“We have a very good pitching staff and our guys know it,” said Rocket coach Nathan McCollough. “Even if we get the slimmest of leads, our guys change their approach at the plate. They try to do too much and start pulling everything. We got back to the right approach a little bit in the seventh, but weren’t able to capitalize.”

Guercio had taken command of Slippery Rock’s lineup, but the Knights’ hitters still had not solved Rocket pitcher Dingel, who took the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead.

Knoch (11-4) received a leadoff infield single from Matt Cornetti. With one out, Dominick Bucko singled and stole second. Alex Stobert drove both runners in with a base hit for a 2-1 edge.

P.J. Gourley and Guercio both reached on a base hit. Though the latter’s hit did not get out of the infield, it was enough to score Stobert and the Knights led 3-1.

Dingel struck out three and walked one while taking the loss.

“Even in that (fifth) inning, I thought Dylan pitched well,” said McCollough. “A couple of the hits were infield singles and we just didn’t make the plays that you need to make to beat a very good team.”

The Rockets (8-5) did answer with one run in their half of the sixth. Cody Lawniczak’s single drove in Dingel. But with runners at first and second, Guercio struck out Ricky Mineo to avoid further damage.

“Nick’s control has been getting better and better,” said Bradley. “He was outstanding today.”

Lauster helped keep Slippery Rock’s deficit at just one run from his position in left field when he threw out Jeff Smolen at home plate on Jeremy Frazier’s base hit in the bottom of the sixth.

Slippery Rock 100 001 0 — 2 6 2

Knoch 000 030 0 — 3 8 1

W: Nick Guercio 7 IP (7K, 3BB). L: Dylan Dingel 6 IP (3K, 1BB).

Slippery Rock (8-5): Ryan Lauster 1B R, Dylan Dingel 1B R, Danny Williams 1B RBI, Gunner Becker 1B, Josh Bowser 1B, Cody Lawniczak 1B RBI

Knoch (11-4): Dominick Bucko 1B R, Alex Stobert 1B R 2RBI, P.J. Gourley 1B, Nick Guercio 1B RBI, Logan Hickey 1B, Jeff Smolen 1B, Matt Cornetti 1B R, Jeremy Frazier 1B

Wednesday: Mars at Knoch; Slippery Rock at Oil City