SLIPPERY ROCK — Jeff Revesz fought his way out of jams for most of the night.

So why would the seventh inning be any different?

The Grove City sophomore pitcher had stranded seven runners in the first six innings by the time he took the mound with a 3-1 lead in the top of the seventh in the Eagles' PIAA Class AAA first-round playoff against Trinity Monday.

After walking Trinity's Mike Maloy to start the inning, the right-hander got a fielder's choice for one out and struck out Dustin Norris.

Evan Bukowski then drilled a two-out double to center, moving Joey Havrilak from first to third on the play.

Havrilak scored on a wild pitch to cut Trinity's deficit to one run.

But with Bukowski standing on third base as the tying run, Revesz struck out Trinity's Craig Gnagey swinging to end the game and to give the Eagles a 3-2 victory.

"The run that scored on the wild pitch didn't bother me," said Revesz. "I knew we had another run to play with, though I was getting a little tired there at the end."

Revesz, who is the Eagles' starting catcher when he's not on the mound, struck out five and walked three in the win, which takes Grove City into the state quarterfinals against Chartiers Valley (14-7) — an 8-3 winner over Punxsutawney —Thursday at a time and site to be determined.

"It was a wonderful performance by Jeff today," said Grove City coach Pat Forese. "He made some mistakes, but he fought the whole game. "

Grove City took a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning before the Hillers (19-5) got on the scoreboard.

With runners at second and third and two outs, Revesz struck out Gnagey, but the ball skipped behind Eagles catcher Garrett Herald, allowing Gnagey to reach first base and Havrilak to score Trinity's first run.

But Revesz got the next batter, Nate Cataldo, to fly out to end the threat.

It was the third straight inning that the Hillers stranded two base runners.

"We got hits, but we just couldn't score enough runs," said Hillers coach Levi Bristor.

Grove City took advantage of Trinity's misfortune in the bottom of the second inning.

With the game scoreless, Casey Shay reached on an infield single after his ball took a bad hop and hit Trinity shortstop Sean McKnight in the face.

After McKnight left the field with an injury, Grove City's Nick Reddick laced a single to right.

Shay raced around second and headed for third as Havrilak's throw from right field sailed into the Hillers bullpen area, allowing Shay to jog home with the game's first run.

Later in the inning, Reddick scored on a wild pitch from Bukowski, who started and lasted the first three innings for the Hillers, striking out six and walking two.

"By the time you get this far (to the state playoffs), most games are going to be 3-1 or 4-2," said Forese. "I knew our guys would be scrapping for every run, and that's what they did."

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Eagles (18-5) added an insurance run when Reddick drew a walk from relief pitcher Tyler Schrader, moved to second and third on wild pitches and came home on Alex Miklos' single to center.

Trinity 000 010 1 — 2 8 2Grove City 020 100 x — 3 7 0W: Jeff Revesz (7 IP) 5 K, 3 BB.

L: Evan Bukowski (3 IP) 6 K, 2 BB.

Trinity (19-5): Joey Havrilak 1B 2R, Dustin Norris 1B, Evan Bukowski 2-2B, Nate Cataldo 1B, Mike Digon 2-1B, Alex Frey 1B

Grove City (18-5): Alex Miklos 2-1B RBI, Garrett Herald 3B, Jason Revesz 1B, Casey Shay 1B R, Nick Reddick 1B 2R, Jon Anderson 1B

Thursday: PIAA Class AAA Quarterfinals-: Grove City vs. Chartiers Valley, time and site TBA