SLIPPERY ROCK - Ryan Hays had difficulty gripping the baseball.

But that wasn't about to stop the Slippery Rock High School pitcher from finishing what he started.

The right-hander scattered six hits in seven innings, striking out three, walking no one and used just 83 pitches to dispose of the Titusville baseball team in a 3-2 home victory Tuesday afternoon.

With two outs and one strike on Titusville's Shane Klinger, Hays motioned for the trainer, holding his right hand.

"He cramped up in his forearm and his thumb," said Slippery Rock coach Cory Hake. "I have never seen anything like that before. He couldn't bend his fingers. My first thought was a blister or he dislocated his thumb. I thought, 'great, that's just how our season has gone.'"

But Hays wasn't gone. Three pitches later he got Klinger to fly out to right-center to end the game.

Hays is the first Slippery Rock pitcher to go the distance this season.

"That's just Ryan," Hake said. "He battles. He battles no matter if he has his best stuff or his worst stuff."

He had his best stuff against Titusville and got two unearned runs to work with in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to two errors.

Hake also used some small ball to get those runs across, using two sacrifice bunts. The second by Hays plated Billy Messer with the second run of the frame.

"We haven't made many errors in the past few games," said Titusville coach Duey Watson. "We just picked a horrible time to make them today."

Titusville, though, answered back with a run in the top of the second inning and tied the score at 2 in the top of the fifth, thanks to a Slippery Rock error.

"We made some mistakes in the field, but we overcame them," Hake said.

Mark White led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double, moved to second on a wild pitch and came home on a RBI groundout by Josh Cress for the decisive run.

It was the execution of the little things that pleased Hake the most.

"We scored three runs on three hits," Hake said. "We'll take it."

Slippery Rock will also take the momentum it had been given in the last week and a half.

After losing to Grove City 17-2 in three innings two weeks ago, the Rockets have won two straight games. They beat Commodore Perry 11-8 on Friday.

But Hake has preached to his team all season to have short memories. Most of the time he was talking about losses, but now he said that applies to wins, too.

"They say you are only as good as your last game," Hake said. "So, today, we feel pretty good.

"But just because we won today, it doesn't get anyone out on Friday (against Oil City). You have to have a short memory after a win, too."

Titusville 010 010 0 - 2 6 2

Slippery Rock 200 010 x - 3 3 1

WP:

Ryan Hays (7 IP) 3 strikeouts, 0 walks.

LP:

Jarrett Watson (6 IP) 2 strikeouts, 2 walks

Titusville (3-7, 2-6):

Shane Klinger 2-1B, RBI; Joe Snyder 2B; Ryan Smith 1B; Derek Carr 1B; Dusty Kerr 2B

Slippery Rock (3-9, 3-7):

Bill Messer 1B; Sean Ray 1B; Mark White 2B; Hays RBI; Josh Cress RBI

Friday:

Slippery Rock at Oil City