Eagles avenge loss to Rockets
GROVE CITY — Having suffered its only loss of the season to Slippery Rock, the Grove City baseball team was looking to set the tone early in Wednesday's matchup.
A two-out RBI single by Derek Forese, followed by a two-run homer by Garrett Molloy, staked the Eagles to a 3-0 lead en route to a 9-0 blanking of Slippery Rock.
"The first two guys (Ryan Devine and Dan Keil) usually get on base," said Grove City coach Pat Forese. "Those were three big hits from our 3-4-5 hitters. It gives us an early edge."
"We didn't show up today," said Slippery Rock coach Paul Malley. "This is our seventh game in 10 days. That's not an excuse, but we didn't come to play."
Keil was effective on the mound, pitching a two-hitter while striking out seven and surrendering no walks.
"Everything was working well today," said Keil. "It felt real good with the warmer weather. I felt better today than I have all year."
"We knew Danny is capable of throwing to anyone," said Forese.
When Grove City opened the second with a single by Kent Denbow, an RBI triple by Mark Revesz and a run-scoring infield single by Brad Ballantine, the Eagles enjoyed a 5-0 advantage.
After Slippery Rock's Mark White had a two-out single in the first inning, Keil retired the next 13 batters until Mac Bowser doubled to open the fifth inning.
Keil, however, got Jesse Badgett to pop out and Nick Cress and Adam Brydon to ground out to end the inning.
"Everyone touts our offense, but our pitching staff had a 1.37 ERA coming into this game and our fielding (percentage) was .955 coming in," said Forese.
In the fifth inning, pinch-hitter Tyler Moser and Revesz slapped consecutive RBI singles and Ryan Devine added a two-run double to close out the scoring.
With the regular season coming to a close, Forese expected a strong season, but didn't know his team would be as strong as it has been.
"Coming into the season, I knew we'd be decent defensively, and (Revesz) was on the mound," said Forese. "Our offense was a question mark, but that's been answered."
The shutout was the sixth for the Eagles, but just their second complete game.
Slippery Rock 000 000 0—0 2 3Grove City 320 040 x—9 12 0Mac Bowser and Brandon Ray; Dan Keil and Scott Moore.
W: Keil (7 K, 0 BB.
L: Bowser (3 K, 0 BB).
Slippery Rock (8-5, 7-4): Mark White 1B; Mac Bowser 2B
Grove City (15-1, 10-1): Ryan Devine 2B, 2 RBI; Bob Revesz 2B; Derek Forese 2-1B, RBI; Garrett Molloy HR, 2-1B, 2 RBI; Kent Denbow 1B; Mark Revesz 1B, 3B, 2 RBI; Brad Ballantine 1B, RBI; Tyler Moser 1B, RBI
Friday: Grove City at Commodore Perry; Slippery Rock at Hickory
