COLLEGE BASEBALL Shippensburg edges The Rock, 2-1

Slippery Rock rallied past Kutztown 2-1 to advance to today's finals.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- It was deja vu for the Shippensburg and Slippery Rock baseball teams on the second day of the 2003 NCAA North Central Regional Baseball Championships.
One week ago in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship tournament, the Red Raiders went into the final day as the unbeaten, while The Rock had battled back through the losers' bracket to gain a berth in the finals.
In Friday's action, it was much of the same as Shippensburg and SRU met in the winners' bracket final, with the Red Raiders emerging with a narrow 2-1 win to remain unbeaten.
Making an impact
Last week, Evan Englebrook tossed a 2-0 shutout at The Rock, and it was again Englebrook who did the damage to SRU as the big right-hander went the distance, scattering five hits while allowing one earned run. He walked a pair and struck out six.
"Last week, we didn't lay off the pitches up in the zone against him and today was much of the same," said SRU coach Jeff Messer. "He [Englebrook] is a hard thrower and it is difficult to catch up with his pitches when they are up in the zone.
"Now it is a matter of survival and we just have to take it one game at a time."
Kutztown and West Chester started the day's action as the Golden Bears broke a scoreless deadlock with a pair of runs in the seventh inning that stood up for a 2-0 win.
That outcome coupled with The Rock's loss to Shippensburg set up the second elimination game of the day between Kutztown and SRU.
Staying alive
In that game, The Rock survived to play another day as they scored single runs in the first and fifth frames before hanging on for a 2-1 win.
Although it averted the shutout, Kutztown couldn't catch up with the offerings of Rock starting pitcher Mike Sikorski as he tossed a no-hitter against the Golden Bears.
"I have had other no-hitters in my career, but for several reasons, this was much bigger than any of the others," said Sikorski. "I knew if we lost we would be eliminated from the tournament and our season would come to an end and I didn't want that to happen."
Although Sikorski's gem kept The Rock alive for a possible trip to the NCAA Division II World Series, the second reason was probably more important to the him.
"My grandfather passed away one year to the day yesterday," explained Sikorski. "I dedicated this whole [his senior] season to him because he was one of the biggest followers and fans I had in my career. My only regret is that he couldn't be here tonight to see this one."
With Friday's results, Shippensburg and Slippery Rock will face each other in the first of possibly two championship games beginning at noon today at Jack Critchfield Park.
If Shippensburg wins, it is off to Montgomery, Ala., for the World Series. However, if Slippery Rock is to take it to the next level, The Rock will have to defeat Shipp twice in the final day of the tournament.