SLIPPERY ROCK - Jesse Alfreno lunged after the first pitch and skied a fly ball that landed softly into the glove of Slippery Rock center fielder Mark White.

A can of corn.

And the last one of the day.

Grove City baseball coach Pat Forese told his team to be patient with Rockets pitcher Josh Cress, a soft-throwing left-hander. The Eagles heeded the advice, patiently scratching out six runs in the second inning on the way to a 10-4 win Monday.

Alfreno, a sophomore shortstop, certainly redeemed himself, smashing two doubles and collecting four RBI.

"In the first inning, we weren't very patient," Forese said. "We were swinging at the first pitch. It looks good coming in, but we were jumping out at it."

Forese told his players to take a couple of pitches, including the arcing, slow breaking pitches Cress had to offer.

The Eagles (4-2 overall, 4-1 in the Mercer County Athletic Conference) did just that, and in the process gave starting pitcher Joe Ennis plenty of wiggle room on a day in which he didn't have his best stuff.

"When you get down 6-0, it changes the whole game," said Slippery Rock coach Cory Hake.

It certainly made life easier for Ennis, who struggled with his command throughout the contest.

Ennis struck out just one and walked five in four innings of work. He also hit a batter.

"I think he threw one curveball for a strike all night," Forese said.

Grove City banged out 17 hits, including seven doubles. The Eagles doubled in four consecutive at-bats in the big second inning.

Dustin Caylor, who came into the game in a mini-slump, had three doubles in the game.

"He really wasn't struggling, he just thought he was," Forese said. "He really hit the ball."

Slippery Rock (4-3) had its chances against Ennis, but it couldn't do any significant damage.

The Rockets left the bases loaded in the first inning and had the bases loaded with no outs in the fifth inning, but managed to score only two runs.

Jim Jaskowak had a lot to do with that. The right-hander relieved Ennis with the Eagles leading 7-1 and retired the next three batters.

He gave up just one run on three hits in three innings of relief for the save.

"He's done that a couple of times for us," Forese said. "He came in the game and threw strikes."

Even though his team has given up 25 runs in the last two games, including 10 runs in the seventh inning against West Middlesex Saturday, Hake said he felt some timely hitting could have turned the tide for the Rockets.

"If we get one two-out hit, it's 7-5," Hake said. "We just need to get some clutch two-out hits. That's just what we're missing right now."

Grove City is missing very little.

All nine players got at least one hit and five of the nine had multi-hit games.

"It's nice to break out a little bit," Forese said.

Despite a team full of freshmen and sophomores and two tough losses in a row, Hake remains optimistic.

"Certainly we're young, but that's not an excuse," Hake said. "We have some good senior leadership. The seniors are bringing these guys along. If anything, we care a little too much. Everyone is putting the pressure of the team on them. That's what your teammates are for.

"We're going to be fine. We're still trying to find out who we are."

Grove City 060 100 3 - 10 17 0

Slippery Rock 001 020 1 - 4 7 2

WP:

Joe Ennis (4 IP) 1 strikeout, 5 walks.

LP:

Josh Cress (6

IP) 4 strikeouts, 1 walk

Grove City (4-2, 4-1):

Jesse Alfreno 2-2B, 4-RBI; Bill Herman 2B, 2-1B, RBI; Dustin Caylor 3-2B, 2-RBI; Joe Ennis 2B; Beau Fisher 2-1B; Derek Maybee 3-1B, 3-RBI; Andy Geibel 1B Don Sonntag 1B; Eric Day 1B

Slippery Rock (4-3, 4-3):

Sean Ray 1B; Ross Ketzel 2-1B; Billy Messer 1B; Bill Dillon 1B, RBI; Brandon Ray 1B, RBI; Tom DeCola 1B

Wednesday:

Slippery Rock @ Reynolds

Friday:

Grove City @ Commodore Perry