SLIPPERY ROCK — Shane Thompson entered the home dugout at Jack Critchfield Park and told his team that he didn’t want to go back out on the mound.

Rightfully so.

The senior starting hurler was 88 pitches into a two-hit shutout of visiting Fort Leboeuf and had just gotten out of the top of the sixth using only a dozen offerings. He’d fanned his eight and ninth challengers of the contest in that inning.

He implored that his offense put the District 10 quarterfinal matchup to rest.

“He’s got more authority than I do,” Rockets coach Derrick Wood joked. “Apparently, when he speaks, they listen.”

Slippery Rock answered the call as batters sprayed knocks in eight consecutive trips to the plate, the last of which sealed a commanding 10-0 victory in six frames Tuesday night.

The spree began when two-hole hitter Nick Kingerski worked a walk. Then Thompson, Brett Galcik, Sal Mineo, Walker Vogan, Brody Galcik, Ethan Drushel, Ryan Montgomery, and Lucas Allison all banged out hits in order against the Bison (5-11).

“We all trust each other,” said Allison, who originally led off the inning by popping out to the shortstop. “We’ve been heating up lately. The whole team’s been hitting ... We knew it was going to come eventually.”

Allison kicked things off for the Rockets (16-5) in the home first, tripling to left-center field, then coming across when a Bison outfielder dropped a routine fly ball.

Slippery Rock stranded runners in scoring position in each of the three innings that followed, while Thompson preserved the lead, most impressively by stabbing a line drive off the bat of Adam Jarrett in the guests’ fourth. Otherwise, it likely would have plated a pair of runs.

“It’s weird for a pitcher,” Thompson said. “You see it a lot slower off the bat than you do in the field. I saw it the whole way and I just put my glove out, hoping it went there. And it did.”

The Rockets racked up 13 hits in total. Allison, Thompson, Vogan, Drushel, and Montgomery all had multi-knock showings.

“We’ve been a pretty good small-ball team all year,” Wood said. “They know, if it’s not the guy that’s up, it can be the next guy. And it could be the next guy. They’re all just really confident.”

Fort Leboeuf coach Bill Naughton watched Slippery Rock play in the postseason a year ago. There’s a different aura with this edition than the last, he said.

“This year, they are 100 times better than what they were last year,” Naughton said. “Their pre-game, their approach, they’re a complete 180 from last year’s team.”

The Rockets will play Harbor Creek in the semifinal round on Friday. The time and location are yet to be decided.

Fort Leboeuf 000 000 — 0 2 1

Slippery Rock 100 036 — 10 13 0

W: Shane Thompson 6IP (9K, 2BB). L: Dan Caldwell 4.1IP (2K, 4BB).

Fort Leboeuf (5-11): Welka 1B, Craft 1B

Slippery Rock (16-5): Lucas Allison 3B 1B 2RBI R, Nick Kingerski R, Shane Thompson 2B 1B R, Brett Galcik 3B RBI 2R, Sal Mineo 1B 2R, Walker Vogan 2-1B RBI R, Brody Galcik 1B RBI R, Ethan Drushel 2-1B 3RBI R, Ryan Montgomery 2-1B

Friday: Slippery Rock vs. Harbor Creek