SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock did a lot of giving Wednesday at Critchfield Park.

And Hickory took it.

The Hornets broke a scoreless tie by scoring four runs in the third inning without getting a hit. That set the table for an 8-0 win over the Rockets in their District 10 Class 4A quarterfinal baseball playoff game.

“You can't do things like that and win a baseball game, especially against a quality opponent,” Slippery Rock coach Fred Pryor said.

All Hickory was trying to do was avoid a repeat of last season. The Rockets had defeated the Hornets twice in the regular season, fell behind 4-0 to Hickory in their playoff game and rallied to win.

“The exact same scenario was playing out today,” Hickory coach Mark Thompson said. “They beat us twice again this year and we grabbed a 4-0 lead in the playoff game again.

“I told the kids in the dugout ... We had to step harder on the gas pedal this time.”

They did.

The Hornets (10-6) added a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings to back the stellar pitching of Nate Hando.

The right-hander entered the game with a 5-1 record and 1.56 earned run average. He struck out seven and scattered four hits in six innings before reaching his 100-pitch limit.

“When Nate did run into trouble, he was able to bear down and work out of it,” Thompson said. “He came up big for us.”

Hickory scored its four runs in the third inning on four walks, a hit batsman, two Slippery Rock errors, a sacrifice bnunt and a pair of sacrifice flies.

Ricky Mineo started on the mound for the Rockets, but reached 100 pitches by early in the fourth inning as he struggled with control. Mineo walked six and hit two batters. The Rockets walked eight and hit three batters on the day.

“Ricky had the stage today,” Pryor said. “I'm not blaming the umpires by any means, but sometimes it's tough to call his pitches if you haven't seen them.

“Ricky has seven pitches and they all have a lot of movement. He also throws 90 (miles per hour), which is nice. It just wasn't his day.”

Mineo, a senior, will pitch for Slippery Rock University next season.

“Ricky Mineo shut us down in the regular season,” Thompson said. “He had double-digit strikeouts against us and we took about nine called third strikes.

“We did a better job today of working the count, getting runners on base and doing things to move them around.”

Hickory scored once on a double steal along with the two sacrifice flies.

Hayden Gallagher had a double, single and two RBI for the Hornets while Cameron Whalen doubled and scored three runs.

Mineo had a double and single, David Duffalo a pair of singles for Slippery Rock.

“Nobody out-works our kids and I'm proud of the effort they gave this year,” Pryor said. “We'll get back at it and try to do better next season.”

Slippery Rock 000 000 0 — 0 6 4

Hickory 004 220 x — 8 7 0

W: Nate Hando 6IP (7K, 2BB). L: Ricky Mineo 3.2IP (4K, 6BB).

Slippery Rock (9-8): David Duffalo 2-1B, Ryan Davis 1B, Ricky Minero 1B 2B, Zack Thompson 1B

Hickory (10-6): Branden Myers 1B, Tyler Mellott 2-1B 2-R, Cameron Whalen 2B RBI 3-R, Spencer McLaughlin RBI, Andrew Gay 2-R, Hayden Gallagher 1B 2B 2-RBI, Jorge Leedham 1B