SLIPPERYROCK— Freshmen usually have to wait their turn to make an impact on a college baseball team.

But Slippery Rock University's freshmen jumped to the front of the line Thursday afternoon in keying SRU's 8-2 victory over California (Pa.) in the second round of the PSACTournament at Critchfield Park.

Freshman pitcher Rich Hocanson improved to 6-0 on the season by throwing just 79 pitches in six innings to get the win. Freshman catcher Matt Adams is hitting .415 on the year and had two singles, two runs scored and one RBIThursday.

Freshman second baseman Billy Messer contributed two singles and two RBIfor The Rock, and freshman designated hitter Jacob Oswalt had a run-scoring single. Oswalt is hitting .407 while Messer is batting .303.

"We try to recruit guys who are talented enough to go higher, but who may want to come to us to get on the field quicker,"SRU coach Jeff Messer said. "We knew these guys could play when we brought them in."

"Yeah, I had some offers from Division I teams, but this is just like playing Division I baseball," Adams said. "We're good enough to beat most northern Division I programs."

California entered the contest riding a seven-game winning streak and with ace pitcher Nick Schreiber on the mound. But The Rock knocked Schreiber out of the game during a four-run fifth inning.

Grove City product Billy Herman delivered a run-scoring single to tie the game at two. Adams followed with an RBIsingle to left and Dan Hudeck doubled to left to give SRUa 4-2 lead.

Oswalt's two-out RBIsingle completed the onslaught. SRUtacked on three runs in the seventh with Billy Messer's two-out, two-run single being the big blow.

Craig Misiewicz pitched three hitless innings, though he walked two batters and hit two others, to earn the save.

"We're in the position we want to be in,"Coach Messer said. "And the best part is we've only had to use three pitchers in two games."

SRUplays at 7 p.m. today against the winner of the noon Kutztown-California game. The Rock is guaranteed to be among the final two or three teams Saturday.

Of Hocanson's 79 pitches, 52 were strikes. California pitchers walked eight batters Thursday.

"We're going to have to play a lot better than we did today to stay alive,"Vulcans coach Mike Conte said. "Slippery Rock played much better than we did."

Hocanson has a 1.80 earned run average to go with his 6-0 record. He has 31 strikeouts and six walks in 41 innings.

"I like to work fast, get the ball and go after the hitters,"Hocanson said. "My curve was up in the zone a bit today, but my fastball was working. I just went straight at them."

Messer pulled within two wins of career victory No. 700. He is 698-389-4 in 22 years at SRU.

In other PSACTournament games Thursday:

n Kutztown's Matt Keller lost a no-hitter when Scott Goss singled with two outs in the ninth inning, but the No. 1 ranked Golden Bears defeated Shippensburg, 2-0.

• Shippensburg stayed alive in the tournament by scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 3-2 win over West Chester, eliminating the Golden Rams. Jared Boger and Jamie Mengle had RBIsingles during the winning rally.

• Kutztown lost for only the fourth time in 49 games and had a 15-game win streak snapped by a 9-5 loss to East Stroudsburg Thursday night. Josh Butler had a triple, a single and four RBIfor the winners.

California (Pa.) 100 010 000—2 6 1Slippery Rock 100 040 30x—8 9 1Nick Schreiber (

L: 1K, 5BB), Ryan Heeman (5, 1K, 3BB), Adam Smith (7, 1K, 0BB) and Dave Sibenac; Rich Hocanson (

W: 3K, 1BB), Craig Misiewicz (7, 2K, 2BB) and Matt Adams.

California (Pa.) (34-14): Lee Rohan 2-1BRBI, Dustin Woodring 1B, Chris Novia 1BRBI, Sam DiMatteo 1B, Dave Sibenac 2B

Slippery Rock (33-13): Phil Butch 2-R, Billy Herman 2B 1BRBI, Matt Adams 2-1BRBI, Dan Hudeck 2B 1B2-RBI, Scott Bender RBI, Jacob Oswalt 1BRBI, Billy Messer 2-1B 2-RBI

Friday's ScheduleNoon: Kutztown (45-4) vs. California (34-14), loser eliminated

3:30 p.m.: Shippensburg (24-22) vs. East Stroudsburg (23-21), loser eliminated

7 p.m.: Kutztown-California winner vs. Slippery Rock (33-13)