West Chester’s bats were never asleep.

It just took until Friday to wake up the scoreboard.

The Rams exploded for 15 runs and 16 hits Friday in defeating Slippery Rock, 15-6, eliminating SRU from the double-elimination PSAC Baseball Tournament at Pullman Park.

“They were due to put one together,” Rock coach Jeff Messer said of West Chester’s offense.

The 14th-ranked Rams had a .325 team batting average during the regular season and Friday marked the 14th time this season they’ve scored 10 or more runs in a game.

Yet they scored only six total runs in their first two PSAC tourney games.

“We still swung the bats well in those two games and we had some good at-bats,” West Chester coach Jad Prachniak said. “This time, we got the results on the scoreboard.”

And they got them early.

The Rams scored six runs in the first two innings and had an 8-1 lead by the fourth. Freshman right-hander Garret Peterson, the first of four Rock pitchers, threw 84 pitches in his four innings of work. He threw 35 pitches in the first inning alone.

“We had to hold them down early in this game and that didn’t happen,” Messer said. “They jumped on us right away.

“I thought we could have done some things against their pitcher, too, but it’s a lot easier to pitch with an 8-1 lead. We faced an uphill climb way too soon.”

Fred Breidenbach, a sophomore, began the day with a 4.00 earned run average for West Chester, but pitched 6.2 innings and allowed only two runs.

SRU scored four times in the eighth inning, highlighted by pinch-hitter Matt Kosik’s three-run double.

West Chester’s first four hitters in the batting order — Mike Raimo, Jack Provine, Joe Wendle and Chris Pula — did the bulk of the damage for the Rams. They combined for 11 hits in 19 at bats, 12 RBI and 10 runs scored.

“Those guys always come prepared,” Prachniak said. “They know how to work the count and get pitches to hit.

“They’re good situational hitters, too. We didn’t waste many opportunities today.”

Will Kengor paced SRU’s nine-hit attack with a double and two singles.

The Rock ended the season at .500 and says goodbye to seven seniors, including starting center fielder Derek Carr, catcher Matt Accardi, left fielder Carter Haponski, third baseman Lee Foxton and ace pitcher Zach Jeney.

SRU returns 23 underclassmen.

“A .500 record is not where we want to be,” Messer said. “We haven’t been able to put it all together in recent years. This season, we had the pitching, but the hitting wasn’t there.

“We’re gonna keep working at it. We’ve got eight incoming guys already signed who should be able to help us right away.”

SRU hasn’t won the PSAC tournament since 2001.

“Trying to get back to the glory days isn’t easy,” Messer said. “The rest of this conference has caught up. Indiana was probably the best hitting team in our league and they didn’t even make the tournament.

“That’s how good this league has become. Anybody can beat anybody. Every weekend is tough because we keep beating each other up.”

West Chester 330 220 032 — 15 16 1Slippery Rock 100 001 040 — 6 9 2W: Fred Breidenbach 6.2IP (1K, 1BB).

L: Garret Peterson 4IP (3K, 1BB).

West Chester (35-10): Mike Raimo 2-1B 4-R, Jack Provine 2-2B 2-1B 4-R 3-RBI, Joe Wendle 2-2B 1B 5-RBI, Chris Pula 2B 1B 4-RBI, Jordan Wlodarczyk 1B RBI, Matt Kirchner 1B, Josh Heyne 1B 2-RBI, Reid Pulford 2-1B 2-R

Slippery Rock (25-25): Derek Carr 1B, Ben Bechtol 1B, Will Kengor 2B 2-1B RBI, Matt Accardi RBI, Carter Haponski 1B RBI, Brandon Myers 1B, Matt Kosik 2B 3-RBI, Graeme Zaparzynski 1B@$: