SLIPPERY ROCK — During the cold and snowy months of December and January, Slippery Rock High senior Cody Stephenson could be found on an artificial pitching mound in the gym reinventing himself.

The right-hander needed to harness another pitch other than a fastball and he went to work to find one.

As a junior, Stephenson was too predictable. Hitters were able to hunker down in the box and wait for his one reliable pitch.

That led to a 1-4 record and a sky high 6.35 ERA.

“Last year wasn’t a year he was proud of,” said Slippery Rock baseball coach Nate McCollough.

Stephenson, though, emerged from the lab that was the Rockets’ gymnasium with a concoction that was sure to keep hitters guessing: a sweeping curveball that he could command anywhere in the strike zone.

The hook has been on full display this season for the surprising Rockets. Stephenson used the pitch, coupled with his fastball, to strike out eight in five innings against Oil City in an 11-1 home win Monday afternoon.

The victory keeps Stephenson undefeated this season at 5-0. He gave up just four hits and one unearned run to lower his ERA to 1.52.

Stephenson has become an ace.

“I’ve been really happy about it,” Stephenson said. “The curveball has been really working. I didn’t have that pitch last year and I worked on it a lot. Now that I have it, it sets up my fastball.”

Last season, without a good secondary pitch, Stephenson gave up 42 hits in 28 2/3 innings to go with only 23 strikeouts.

This season, Stephenson has given up just 25 hits in 32 1/3 innings and has fanned 42.

“He couldn’t keep hitters off-balance last year,” McCollough said. “This year he is keeping everyone off-balance.”

Stephenson got some run support against Oil City Monday. The Rockets banged out 10 hits in the game. Slippery Rock opened up a 5-1 lead with a four-run second inning and then tacked on six more runs in the third to take an 11-1 lead.

Freshman Ryan Lauster had a double, triple and three RBI for Slippery Rock (7-6, 4-3). Stephenson helped himself with the bat with a two-run single in the third inning.

Stephenson struck out the side in the fifth to put the finishing touches on his latest gem.

He got most of his strikeouts with a high fastball out of the zone.

“I’m changing their eye level with the curveball,” Stephenson said. “That’s getting them to chase the high hard stuff.”

Stephenson is less excited about his transformation into a dominant pitcher and more excited about the success of the team.

Slippery Rock has not had a winning season since 2007 and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2008.

The Rockets have a chance to accomplish both this season with a little less than two weeks remaining.

“I’m pumped,” Stephenson said. “We haven’t had a winning season since I’ve been here. The guys are working really hard.”

Slippery Rock has done it with an extremely young lineup.

The Rockets had three freshmen and two sophomores starting against Oil City (1-11, 1-5).

One of those freshmen was catcher Josh Bowser, who has handled the pitching staff well.

“He makes it easy on them, I think,” McCollough said of his young backstop. “He makes them confident, he blocks the ball well, he sets up in and out well. It helps us because we don’t have to catch (senior) Mitch Robinson every game this year. Mitch can play shortstop and come in and relieve now. It’s huge.”

But Slippery Rock’s success has started with the new and improved Stephenson on the hill.

“It was just a lot of repetition to get the curveball where I wanted it,” Stephenson said. “It was a lot of hard work, but it’s paying off.”

Oil City 100 00x x — 1 4 3

Slippery Rock 146 0xx x — 11 10 1

W: Cody Stephenson 5IP (8K, 0BB). L: Dan Staub 2IP (2K, 2BB).

Oil City (1-11, 1-5): Zack Amos 1B RBI, Morgan Hadley 2B

Slippery Rock (7-6, 4-3): Travis Lauster 1B, Ryan Lauster 2B 3B 3-RBI, Stephenson 1B 2-RBI, Mitch Robinson 1B, Jackson Kerchis 1B, Joe Barnhart 2-1B, Levi Leonberg 1B 2B 2-RBI

Thursday: Slippery Rock at Shenango