Baseball Game Preview: Slippery Rock Rockets vs. Oil City Oilers

The Slippery Rock Rockets will head out on the road to face off against the Oil City Oilers at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Slippery Rock has four straight victories, Oil City has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

The home team had won the previous three meetings between Slippery Rock and Sharon, and Slippery Rock kept the tradition alive. The Rockets had just enough and edged out the Tigers 4-3.

Austan Runtas tossed a big game, striking out six batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits (and only one walk).

Connor Zorn

Hits (Career)

04/09/25 vs Sharon	2
04/07/25 @ Grove City	1
03/31/25 @ Franklin	1
05/04/24 vs Williamsport	1

At the plate, Slippery Rock's win was truly a team effort as seven different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Connor Zorn, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. Those two hits gave Zorn a new career-high.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Oil City and Hickory meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Wednesday. The Oilers fell 4-1 to the Hornets.

Slippery Rock pushed their record up to 4-0 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.8 runs over those games. As for Oil City, their loss dropped their record down to 1-5.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Slippery Rock has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Oil City struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 9.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Slippery Rock couldn't quite get it done against Oil City when the teams last played back in April of 2024 as they fell 8-4. Can the Rockets avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.