SLIPPERY ROCK — They sit 33 games below .500, are losing money, average at least 350 fans fewer than any other Frontier League team and rank next to the bottom of the circuit in hitting and pitching.

So where do the Slippery Rock Sliders go from here — on the field and off?

The Sliders play their final two home games tonight and Wednesday at Critchfield Park and close their inaugural minor league baseball season with a four-game series at Washington (Pa.) this weekend.

"Yes, we've lost money, but the league figured on that,"said Sliders general manager Steve Tahsler. "We're actually only 5 percent off where we projected we'd be financially.

"When you consider we only had 32 home dates scheduled and lost seven of those to rain, that's not so bad."

One of those rainouts was not rescheduled and another was moved to Washington.

The Sliders are averaging 702 fans per home game. Tahsler expects stronger attendance figures in the final two home games because Slippery Rock University students are back on campus.

In a recent series against Chillicothe, the Sliders drew crowds of 1,200 and 1,400. Their last home game — a doubleheader against West Division leader Gateway (Ill.)— drew only 312, however.

Tahsler said the chances are "better than 50-50"that the Sliders will return here next season. The franchise is owned by the league and played two-thirds of its schedule on the road. The ballclub will have its own owner next year.

"We have one interested buyer locally and another from out of town,"Tahsler said. "The first choice is to stay here. We'd be ahead of the game that way, now that we've established ourselves."

No concrete proposal has been finalized or accepted, but Tahsler said that will be forthcoming upon season's end.

"How quickly after the season?"he repeated a question. "The sooner, the better."

With a seating capacity of 1,500, Critchfield Park is the smallest ballpark in the league.

"For the market we're in, the size of the park is fine,"Tahsler said. "We can put another 300 to 400 fans in left field. The biggest concern with Slippery Rock is the lack of a corporate base."

On the field, the Sliders' problem has been getting on base and moving around once they get there. The team batting average is .239 and the Sliders have a league-low 42 stolen bases to go with just 44 home runs.

Among players on the team with at least 100 at bats, Slippery Rock University graduate Phil Butch leads the club with a .291 batting average. Bryan Vickers paces the team with eight home runs and Anthony Albano leads the way with 37 RBI — hardly the stuff pennant contenders.

"I've enjoyed this experience,"Sliders manager Greg Jelks said. "Putting 22 rookies together and trying to make a professional baseball team out of them is a challenge.

"Some of these guys have earned themselves a chance to come back next year. A lot of them haven't."

Of the 23 players on the Sliders' current roster, only eight — pitchers Kory Bucklew, Zac Cline, Greg Lasinski and Nick Tracy, infielders Cy Donald and Vickers, outfielders Casey Bowling and Jason Curry — have been with the team all year.

"It's been like a revolving door around here,"Cline said. "I think we reached the league's transaction limit and we're out of moves. But that's all part of the game at this level."

Cline is 10th in the league with a 3.46 earned run average and carries an 8-6 record, allowing just 88 hits in 96Z\c innings pitched. He is the one Sliders player who may catch on with a major league camp next spring.

"Whether I'm still here or not, I hope the team comes back to Slippery Rock,"he said. "The community has supported us and it takes a couple of years at least for a new franchise to get off the ground."

Curry, a Slippery Rock High School and SRUgraduate, is hitting .208 with five homers and 20 RBI.

"The travel was tough this year,"Curry said of the team playing 66 of 96 games on the road. "You don't get much sleep. You adapt to it, rest on the bus when you can, but it's hard — especially if you've never experienced it before."

Robert Smith, president of SRU, said the Sliders are welcome to return.

"Imet with team officials two weeks ago, but haven't heard about any decision,"Smith said. "To me, that's good news. My feeling is if there was no indecision, they'd probably be gone.

"We'll do what we can to help them stay here, with the understanding they have a business to run. You can't run a business losing money, and with that aspect, we can't help them."

Two aspects of the Sliders that will remain if they do return here are the college interns working with Tahsler and Jelks' return as field manager.

"If Greg wants to come back, we want him back,"Tahsler said. "And the student intern operation has worked well beyond our expectations."

Jelks said he relishes the opportunity to field a winning team in Slippery Rock.

"Not having to start from scratch, playing half our schedule here with an operating budget even with the other teams — yeah, I'd take my shot with that," he said.