Gunner Becker's first trip to the mound as a varsity starter looked like it would be a short one.

Instead, it was a non-stop thrill ride.

The Slippery Rock freshman right-hander stranded runners in scoring position in every inning Thursday night at Kelly Automotive Park and pitched a complete game as the Rockets edged Knoch, 5-4.

Becker threw 40 pitches in the first frame alone, but stranded the bases loaded after giving up a couple of runs.

“I knew he'd struggle in the first inning,” Slippery Rock coach Nate McCollough said. “I wanted to see if he could fight through it. If they scored three runs or less that inning, I was gonna stay with him.

“Gunner is a competitor, a battler. No one had really touched him in JV games this year. I wanted to see what he could do.”

Becker is 3-0 in junior varsity action this year. He's thrown a couple of innings of relief at the varsity level.

He said nerves were not a factor Thursday,

“I just had to find the zone,” Becker said. “Once I did, I settled down.”

The first batter Becker faced, Hyte Eurich, tripled to center. Eurich scored on a wild pitch. Jordan Hickey drew a bases-loaded walk to give Knoch a 2-1 lead.

From there, the night was a study in frustration for the Knights, who were 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Knoch had 10 hits and stranded 11 runners.

“We haven't played our best game yet,” Knoch coach George Bradley said. “We couldn't get a clutch hit tonight.

“On days we pitch, we don't hit. When we hit well, we don't pitch. Some games, we don't catch the ball.”

Knoch committed four errors Thursday, but cost themselves only one unearned run. That came in the first inning.

“Our pitching picked us up,” Bradley said. “We were throwing strikes tonight.”

Slippery Rock managed only five hits, but got a three-run double down the left field line from Jackson Kerchis to highlight a four-run third inning.

“Jackson's hitting about .300,” McCollough said. “He was down in the count 0-2, fouled off a few pitches and eventually the pitcher gave in a little bit.”

Becker threw 125 pitches, but never more than 20 in an inning after the long first frame.

He hit four batters and actually plunked a fifth, but Bryan Jack was ordered to finish the at bat as the plate umpire ruled he didn't attempt to avoid the pitch.

Zach Junk had been hit to lead off the inning in front of Jack, who eventually grounded into a double play. Hickey followed with a single and Gavin Miller was hit by a pitch, but Becker wriggled out of trouble again.

Junk's third single of the game began the Knights' seventh. Alex Stobert was hit by a pitch and Hickey's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners. Hickey nearly beat the throw at first base.

“I thought he was safe,” Bradley said. “That play and that double play were big in this game.”

Miller bounced out to the mound — scoring Junk — and Becker struck out Spencer Voltz to end the game.

“I'm not usually that wild,” Becker said of the hit batsmen. “I was just coming too far inside.”

“I was a little worried about his pitch count, but Gunner was getting stronger as the game went on,” McCollough said. “I just went out to the mound to talk to him, settle him down a couple of times.”

Travis Lauster had two singles for Slippery Rock. Junk had three singles, Eurich a triple and single for Knoch, which dropped its third straight.

Knight seniors Junk, Voltz, Eurich, Hickey, Miller and Caleb Thorn were honored before the game.

Slippery Rock 104 000 0 — 5 5 1

Knoch 201 000 1 — 4 10 4

W: Gunner Becker 7IP (4K, 1BB). L: Gavin Miller 2.1IP (1K, 3BB).

Slippery Rock (10-4): Travis Lauster 2-1B 2-R, Josh Bowser RBI, Jackson Kerchis 2B 3-RBI, Tim Butler 2B RBI, Matt Badger 1B

Knoch (10-4): Hyte Eurich 3B 1B, Chris Law 1B, Jordfan Kowalski 2B, Zach Junk 3-1B 2-R, Bryan Jack 1B,Jordan Hickey 1B 2-RBI, Gavin Miller RBI, Spencer Voltz 1B

Monday: Grove City at Slippery Rock