SLIPPERY ROCK — The Slippery Rock High baseball team desperately needed to get healthy.

Mercer and its wilder-than-wild pitching staff were the ideal tonic.

Rockets hitters drew 14 walks, including four straight on 16 pitches in the final inning, as Slippery Rock rolled to a 15-0 win in four innings Thursday.

"We needed this game so bad," Rockets coach Paul Malley said. "We're starting conference play next week, and, by the looks of some of the records, it's a crap shoot."

Slippery Rock headed into its home game against Mercer at 0-4 and with an offense that had been anemic.

The Rockets had scored just nine runs before the outburst against Mercer.

The slow start was agonizing for Malley, who had high hopes for his team this year.

"It was tougher on me mentally," Malley said. "Why 0-4? We played our first two games without one practice outside on our field."

That didn't stop Malley from trying to get his bats going.

While the Rockets didn't necessary tear the cover off the ball — they collected seven hits against four Mercer pitchers — Malley was pleased at the quality of their hacks.

"If they couldn't start hitting now after all the practicing we've done — we've hit on the machine, we've hit live, we've hit intersquad against the JV, I was getting down to the bottom of the barrel in what I could do to get them going," Malley said.

What really got Slippery Rock going, though, was a combination of patience and a Mercer team that simply couldn't throw strikes.

The Mustangs were playing their sixth game in four days, counting their junior varsity schedule. Many of Mercer's varsity players also play on the JVteam.

Herbie Hennegan got the start and, after escaping the first inning unscathed, surrendered two runs in the second inning before yielding to Matt Snow in the third.

That's when it started snowing walks.

Snow issued four walks in an inning of work and also hit a batter. Hollywood Bertolasio relieved him and walked five more. At one point he threw 16 straight balls.

"We just ran out of arms," said Mercer coach Jack Thorn. "We ran out of pitching. My top two guys threw the last two days and they couldn't throw today."

Slippery Rock didn't have such a problem.

The Rockets trotted out senior Joey Hemphill, who was making only his second varsity start.

Hemphill was the antithesis of Mercer's pitchers: He worked quickly, threw strikes and shut down the Mustangs in a two-hit shutout.

"I was just trying to throw strikes," Hemphill said. "I know I have a good defense behind me. I was just letting them back me up."

Nick Cress backed up Hemphill with a three-run triple in the third inning. The leadoff hitter also walked three times.

Dom Neely walked three times and ended the game with a bases-loaded flare to shallow left field that plated Ryan Ferguson with the mercy-rule run.

Mercer 000 0xx x— 0 2 0Slippery Rock 025 8xx x—15 7 0W: Joey Hemphill 4 IP (1 K, 1 BB).

L: Herbie Hennegan 2 IP (1 K, 4 BB).

Mercer (0-3): Nick Ream 1B; Cody Frey 1B

Slippery Rock (1-4): Nick Cress 3B, 3-RBI; Jesse Badgett 1B, 3-RBI; MattShearer 2-1B, 2-RBI; Dom Neely 1B, 3-BB, RBI; Josh Weitzel 1B; Jarod Agostino 1B, 2-RBI

Today: Meadville at Slippery Rock