Before Wednesday's 3-1 win over Zelienople they were 0-5 and had been outscored 41-8.

Such is life as an expansion team - even one in the Eagle County Baseball League.

Slippery Rock formed a team this season after a long absence from the league and has taken some lumps.

That really wasn't surprising, even to the members of the team.

"We knew there were some really good teams in this league," said Adam Rose, who played at Slippery Rock High School and was one of the organizers of the team. "We got first-hand experience in our very first game when the pitcher was 39 and shut us down."

Rose also got an education in just how consuming it is to start a franchise.

There were uniforms to buy, a home field to acquire and money to filter through the system where it needed to go.

In the end, it cost the 20-plus players on the roster about $150 each to play this summer.

"It was a great experience to see where all the money goes," Rose said. "Some thought that was a lot to play summer baseball."

But many on the roster, which is made up mostly of former Slippery Rock High School and Slippery Rock University players, thought that was a small price to pay for a chance to play.

Slippery Rock tried to enter the league last season but missed the deadline. This year, Rose, Slippery Rock High School assistant coach John Hicks, who is the manager of the team, and SRU athletic director Paul Lueken, were able to get the team in the league.

One of the big selling points was the on-and-off use of Jack Critchfield Park.

Slippery Rock will play the majority of its games at Slippery Rock High School.

"(Critchfield Park) helped a lot," Rose said. "We are so much further away than most of the other teams in the league, that was one of our selling points."

Still, the other teams had a vote on whether to let Slippery Rock into the league or not. The vote went in Slippery Rock's favor, but Rose said he and his player weren't informed of the margin.

And they didn't care. They were in the league and had a place to play.

They had to start from scratch, including obtaining uniforms. Originally, the team was going to wear the old jerseys used by the high school team, but when that fell through, they decided to go in a different direction by buying black and gray uniforms.

Saxonburg manager and league vice president Dan Cunningham said breaking into the Eagle County League is difficult. Diligence is needed - and a lot of it.

"They need to keep the same guys together and play all their games, no matter what," Cunningham said. "You earn a lot of respect doing just that."

Slippery Rock was a dominant team in the league in the 1980s under Arnie Trufley. The team won the league championship in 1980, '81 and '83.

Cunningham said it might take Slippery Rock several seasons to get back to that level of play.

"It's difficult for teams to come into this league and succeed right away," Cunningham said. "Usually the new teams have a bunch of young guys. They think they can beat these older guys, but it is very different to compete in this league. It takes three or four years sometimes."

Rose and his teammates, though, had no illusions.

"We knew we weren't going to come in and take it all," Rose said. "Every single player on the team when we lose doesn't get down on the team. We wanted to get a bunch of guys together who would show up every game even if we started losing."

But despite the poor start, Rose believes the team will be competitive later in the season.

Scott Rice, who lost a season to an arm injury, will be able to pitch again soon. The team also will be buoyed by the arrival of two Slippery Rock University players, Collin Scott and Nick DeVore.

"We have some guys at midseason who can help us," Rose said. "I think by midseason we will finally get our stuff together."