Will Rocky have a happy ending at Slippery Rock?

The success of this season's Slippery Rock University baseball team is somewhat tied to the answer.

Shaler High grad Rocky D'Angelo, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior pitcher at The Rock, was sensational over the first month of the season -- posting a 5-0 record with a 1.03 ERA in 35 innings. He was proving to be that reliable No. 1 starter every program needs to succeed.

But last Friday, Rocky and Slippery Rock hit a pothole.

In a game against Clarion, D'Angelo lasted just three innings and gave up five runs on seven hits. When he left the game, which Slippery Rock eventually won, 8-6, D'Angelo was hurting and not just from the pounding he took.

It turned out D'Angelo pitched the game with inflamed rib cartilage. On Saturday, D'Angelo said he'd be back on the mound for his next start, but veteran Slippery Rock coach Jeff Messer said he was "concerned."

Slippery Rock, which looked like a world-beater when it jumped out to a 21-2 record and a Top 10 ranking in NCAA Division II, had lost five of its past six games heading into yesterday's play. The Rock (22-7, 5-3 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) was suddenly beginning to look very ordinary.

Not having D'Angelo down the stretch could be a major blow.

"Rocky's a bulldog," said Messer, who is in his 20th season. "He wants the ball. He works fast and throws a lot of strikes. He doesn't want to come out of the game.

"Even in that game against Clarion, he was in a lot of pain but didn't want to come out."

D'Angelo entered his senior year at Slippery Rock with a career record of 12-5 and a lot of confidence after a successful summer pitching in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

"Between Slippery Rock and the summer league, I got in 110 innings of pitching last year. It helped me quite a bit," said D'Angelo. "The New England league was a great opportunity to go somewhere not knowing you could compete and finding out you could. There were a lot of Division I kids there. It's always fun to play against people above your [college] level."

D'Angelo was 3-3 with two saves and 54 strikeouts in 53¹*₃ innings last summer, pitching for a Berkshire Dukes team that finished near the bottom of the standings with a 16-26 record.

D'Angelo, a right-hander, throws a fastball that consistently travels at 85 to 87 mph, plus a curveball and a slider. A pitcher and a catcher at Shaler High, D'Angelo said he has hopes of playing pro ball after this year, whether it is in an independent league or in Europe.

But first things first. Right now, D'Angelo and Slippery Rock are hoping to get back on track and gain entrance to postseason play.

In Messer's two decades as SRU's coach, The Rock owns an overall record of 620-346-4. Two years ago, Slippery Rock went 48-13 and made it all the way to the NCAA Division II World Series. Last year, The Rock went 30-21 (11-9 in conference) and didn't qualify for the PSAC playoffs.

"At Slippery Rock, we always think we should be in the playoffs," said D'Angelo. "Last year, we didn't make it and it hurt."

Hopefully, when postseason play begins this season, Slippery Rock and D'Angelo won't be hurting.