SLIPPERY ROCK - Junior captain Brady Mengel hit a home run and added three doubles at Slippery Rock, but the Mansfield University baseball team was unable to take down The Rock on the road in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover twin bill on Tuesday afternoon. 

Mengel's day started with a single in his first at-bat of the first game. Slippery Rock pulled to a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning before he had his next trip to the plate.  At-bat number two was a double.  Camren Ney brought him home on single to make it a 4-2 game. 



The Rock struck for seven runs in the bottom half of the fourth to extend their lead. 
 
Eric Senior and Josh Kulina both walked to set the stage for Mengel yet again in the fifth. This time, the Germansville native delivered his second home run of the season. The three-run shot made it 11-5, and Troy Thomas delivered a solid two-inning performance in relief to keep The Rock in place, but the Mounties would only muster one more run prior to the conclusion of the first game.
 
Thomas' line over his two innings on the bump included three strikeouts. Billy Gregory struck out two batters in his fifth start of the season.
 
In addition to Mengel's 3-for-4 performance, Ney and Brittain Shander both went 2-for-4.  Dom Lopez worked two walks, and Jake Haas added another.
 
GAME 2
Slippery Rock again put together a significant burst of runs to start the game. Through the first two innings, The Rock pulled to a 7-0 lead.
 
Mengel had doubled to lead off the second inning, but MU was unable to bring him home.  In the fourth inning, Mengel pulled into second base with his third double of the day.  This time, he was plated by a nice piece of hitting from Dom Lopez. Lopez went with a fastball on the outer half of the plate and drove the pitch to right field for a single. Glen Addicott ripped another double to score Lopez, and was able to score later in the inning himself to bring Mansfield within four.
 
Brittain Shander, Josh Kulina (HBP), Tyler Guidos, and Mengel were each walked in the sixth inning to score another Mountie run, making it 9-4.  Unfortunately, that would be the final score as well.
 
Tom Heenan and Hunter DePrimo split up the final two innings of work, each tossing scoreless frames. Sean Heery was the first arm out of the bullpen following Timmy Saar's start. Heery and Saar combined for three of the Mounties four strikeouts.  Kulina and Ney each had base knocks, while Shander had two walks and scored a run for MU.
 
In total, Mengel was 3-for-4 in the first game, and a perfect 2-for-2 with a pair of walks in the second game. 
 
Mansfield will return home to host the Marauders on Friday before traveling to Millersville for the final two games of the conference series on Saturday. Full coverage of the games at Shaute Field will include live stats and a video broadcast presented by Drew Patrick and Bob Michaels.  Video is made possible by Visit Potter-Tioga.