The Slippery Rock Rockets will square off against the Franklin Knights at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Slippery Rock will come into the contest with an undefeated record on the line.
If Slippery Rock beats Franklin with ten runs on Thursday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Slippery Rock was the clear victor by a 10-2 margin over Titusville on Wednesday. Slippery Rock might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three matches by eight runs or more this season.
Austan Runtas spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on two hits and racked up six Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
Parker Dalcamo
| 04/23/25 vs Titusville | 2 |
| 04/22/25 @ Fairview | 1 |
| 04/19/25 vs Conneaut Area | 1 |
| 04/07/25 @ Grove City | 1 |
| 03/31/25 @ Franklin | 1 |
At the plate, Parker Dalcamo was a standout: he went 3-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Isaac McCandless, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.
Slippery Rock always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .514. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Franklin didn't have quite enough to beat Oil City on Wednesday and fell 3-1. The Knights haven't had much luck with the Oilers recently, as the team has come up short the last four times they've met.
Franklin saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Drew Kockler, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI.
Slippery Rock pushed their record up to 9-0 with the win, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.3 runs over those games. As for Franklin, they now have a losing record of 5-6.
Slippery Rock's speedy runners might be the difference in Thursday's game. The Rockets have been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Franklin, though, as they've been averaging only 1.3 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Slippery Rock continue to outrun the ball?
Slippery Rock took their win against Franklin when the teams last played back in March by a conclusive 12-4 score. Will the Rockets repeat their success, or do the Knights have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
