SLIPPERY ROCK — About the only one who expected Billy Herman to put up these kinds of numbers was Billy Herman.

The freshman second baseman for the Slippery Rock University baseball team had to battle for his starting spot in the spring. Then, once he won it, he had to prove he deserved to keep it.

A .328 batting average is proof enough.

"Physically, I knew I could do it," Herman said. "I didn't know how I would do mentally. College baseball — it's unbelievable how mental it is. In high school, it's hard to get into a slump because the season is so short. It's barely April and we've already played more games than I played last year in high school."

Herman was a star for the Grove City High School baseball team last year, batting nearly .500 as a third baseman. His father, William, is a retired professor at SRU and his mother, Susan, is a current professor at the school.

That made the decision to go to The Rock that much easier.

Because his parents are employed by the university, Herman's tuition is waived, freeing up scholarship money.

"It's a perk," Herman said.

He's been perking up The Rock's lineup as well.

In addition to hitting .328, he also has hit one home run, three doubles, a triple and driven in 16 in 61 at-bats. Perhaps most impressively, he has walked 12 times and struck out only four.

"He's not your typical high school kid coming in trying to yank everything," said SRU coach Jeff Messer. "He's a very tough out. He has a very good sense of the strike zone and hits to all fields."

The Rock is used to such production from its second baseman.

He replaced Knoch graduate Chase Rowe, who hit .412 with seven homers and 39 RBI last season during his senior year.

"A lot of people on the team told me Chase was one of the best hitters they have ever seen," Herman said. "So, I had some big shoes to fill."

Herman has filled them well.

He said he owes a lot of his success to his work ethic and attitude coming into the season.

"I just love to play baseball," Herman said. "And I will do anything to keep playing. This fall, coming here, I had to adjust to college life and now I have to adjust to college baseball. Everything is going real well now."

Herman also got some help from one of the mainstays of the SlipperyRock lineup. Junior shortstop Phil Butch has become a good friend and a mentor to Herman.

Butch came in as a freshman and earned a starting spot his first year with The Rock.

"Phil Butch has helped me in so many ways," Herman said. "He was in the same situation I am in now when he was a freshman, so he's helped me with that. He's been incredible."

"(Butch) helped Billy out immediately," Messer said. "Phil keeps you very loose. He won't let Billy get down if he makes a mistake."

Herman hopes to have the kind of career Butch has had at The Rock.

He admits he had some goosebumps when he walked into the batting cage for the first time at SRU.

"There's all the posters and signs about how many times they have gone to the (Division II College) World Series," Herman said. "That's some big-time stuff and I didn't know if I was ready for it."

In fact, Herman didn't even know if he would see the field.

"I knew I was going to have to work hard to see anything at all," Herman said.