SLIPPERY ROCK — Ricky Mineo’s first pitch of the season hit 95 miles per hour Sunday afternoon at Critchfield Park.

That pitch and those that followed failed to hit something else — the Davis & Elkins bats.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Mineo, a Slippery Rock High School graduate and junior Slippery Rock University right-hander, struck out 17 Senators in six no-hit innings and did not allow a baseball to be put in play during The Rock’s 19-0 victory.

Mineo walked three. The other out was recorded when SRU catcher Connor Hamilton threw a runner out trying to steal second base.

“Crazy, crazy stuff,” SRU baseball coach Jeff Messer said. “You just don’t see something like that. Absolutely dominant. They were way late on his fastball and Ricky was getting his breaking pitches over for strikes as well.

“Their coach told me after the game that his hitters just don’t see pitchers with that type of velocity. I told him not to worry about it ... Ricky did the same thing to our guys during our fall intra-squad games.”

First-year SRU pitching coach Mike Nuzzo said of Mineo’s performance: “You just can’t do better than that. You pile up a pitch-count when you strike a lot of guys out, but when you’re doing what Ricky was doing that day, you just let him do his thing.”

Mineo didn’t pitch the seventh and final inning because he was up to 96 pitches. Messer said he wouldn’t let any of his pitchers hit triple digits during The Rock’s season-opening weekend.

“He didn’t have too many full counts,” the coach recalled of Mineo’s outing. “Ricky was getting rid of guys on three, four, maybe five pitches.”

“Definitely the best game I’ve ever pitched,” Mineo said. “When I hit 95 on my first pitch,. I couldn’t believe it. I knew I had to scale it back a little bit, let my legs do more of the work.

“When I got through the lineup the first time with all strikeouts and saw how behind they were on my fastball, I felt it could be a special day. I mainly stayed with my fastball most of the day. I threw maybe 15 curves, mixed in my slider a little bit, but I just went at them.”

Mineo was off to a great start last season as well, going 4-0 in six starts with a 3.29 earned run average. He tallied 47 strikeouts and only eight walks in 27 innings pitched.

But he only got through a third of the season before shutting down with tendinitis in his throwing shoulder.

“I tried coming back from it too early,” Mineo admitted. “I started a game against IUP, but my shoulder flamed up again after only one inning. I was done at that point.”

He went through rehab during the summer and returned in full health for SRU’s fall baseball workouts, where Messer pronounced Mineo as being “pretty much back to normal.”

Mineo has been invited to play in Major League Baseball’s Pre-Draft League, a circuit that begins play when schools let out and continues right up to the draft. The MLB Draft has only 20 rounds this year.

“You can only play in that league by invitation,” Messer said. “It serves as a showcase for potential draft picks.”

Mineo is unsure of where or what team he’ll be pitching for. He said he won’t know that until April.

Admitting to thinking about the draft, Mineo added that his primary focus is on having a big season on the mound for SRU.

“We want to go as far as we can go as a team,” he said. “After that, whatever happens, happens.

Mineo has a year of eligibility remaining at The Rock after this season. Whether he returns may well depend on whether he stays healthy.

“As long as he stays healthy, I think he’ll have a choice whether to move on (to professional baseball),” Messer said. “That’s everybody’s dream. For Ricky, it’s a more realistic dream than most players.

“The draft is only 20 rounds now. It’s hard to turn down if you do get picked, but it depends on the situation, too. I’m hoping Ricky does get selected. That would mean he had a great spring for us.”

Nuzzo doesn’t see any other possibility.

“As strong as he is and with the command he has of all of his pitches ... The scouts are on him,” Nuzzo said. “Ricky has a bright future in this game. The sky’s the limit for him.”