AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Slippery Rock University’s baseball team lost a three-run lead in the final two innings Wednesday and dropped a 6-5 decision to West Chester.

The game marked the seventh one-run loss of the season for The Rock (6-9-1), which was scheduled to close out its Florida trip with a 10 a.m. nine-inning game against Winona State (Minn.) today. Winona State was the Division II national runner-up last season.

SRU took a 5-2 lead into the eighth inning against West Chester (9-1), but committed two errors to help the Golden Rams score three times to tie the game.

A hit batsman, single and sacrifice fly enabled West Chester to score the eventual winning run in the top of the ninth.

Matt Accardi and Will Kengor had two RBI each for SRU while Kengor, Ben Bechtol and John Shaffer had two hits each. Garret Peterson, the fourth Rock pitcher, took the loss in relief.

Following Friday’s game, SRU travels to Gannon University to begin PSAC West play with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday before hosting the Goden Knights for a twinbill at 1 p.m. Sunday at Critchfield Park.

Women’s Tennis

Dunja Drmac and Lauren Coggins won by 6-0, 6-0 scores at No. 2 and No. 5 singles, respectively, Wednesday to give SRU a 9-0 win over Millersville in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

The Rock’s No. 3 doubles team of Samantha Bruggeman and Janelle Krantz posted an 8-0 victory.

No. 39 SRU improved to 9-2 on the year and plays Charleston (W.Va.) at noon today.

Track and Field

The Slippery Rock University track and field teams will be honoring the memory of former assistant coach Dave Labor this spring.

Labor died last fall after a long battle with cancer. He was an assistant with the SRU track program for 17 years.

The SRU Invitational will be renamed the Dave Labor Invitational and will be held each spring at the Bill Lennox track inside Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. The inaugural Dave Labor Invitational will be April 14.

A special ceremony and tribute to Labor will occur at noon that day. A commemorative plaque will be unveiled that features a photo of Labor, a list of his accomplishments and the names of all 80 athletes who claimed PSAC titles under his tutelage.

The Dave Labor Memorial Fund will help offset the costs of the plaque and meet expenses for the Dave Labor Invitational each year. For each person who donates $25 to the fund, a commemorative three-inch Dave Labor medal will be awarded.

Any track and field alumni from Slippery Rock and all of Labor’s former student-athletes are invited to attend the ceremony.

Call SRU track and field coach John Papa at 724-738-2798 or email him at john.papa@sru.edu for more information.