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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University baseball team got offensive contributions from all nine starters - and three replacements - and got solid pitching from juniors Ashton Raines (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) and Trey Hinkle (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) en route to a 13-7 victory over Slippery Rock University in the opening game of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament at Point Stadium on Wednesday morning. The Huskies improved to 30-16 overall while The Rock fell to 29-18 on the season.

The victory was Bloomsburg's first postseason win since defeating Shippensburg University, 5-3, on May 13, 2011, which also occurred at Johnstown's Point Stadium. Wednesday's victory was also the 30th of the year for the Huskies as they join the 1995 (37 wins) and 1997 (30 wins) as the only teams in program history to eclipse 30 victories in a single season.

All nine starters reached base at least once and either scored at least one run or drove in at least one run on the day. In fact, the three Huskies' replacements - redshirt freshman Christian Ciotti (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township), freshman Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown), and freshman Jared Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) - also either scored a run (Ciotti and Reed) or drove in a run (Burcin). All told, the Huskies, who entered the tournament as the top team in the PSAC in on-base percentage, had 14 hits and drew a dozen walks against five Slippery Rock pitchers.

Raines, meanwhile, improved to 7-2 on the season and, while he allowed six runs on 11 hits, he really made only two mistakes on the day which accounted for five of Slippery Rock's runs. More importantly, he went seven innings, enabling the rest of the pitching staff to be well-rested for the remainder of the tournament. Junior Trey Hinkle (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) came on and pitched the final two innings. He allowed a run on three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts - including a punch-out of Slippery Rock's Kyle Wise to end the game and to give the Huskies their first postseason victory in seven years.

Both teams could not dent the scoreboard in the top of the first despite threatening. The Rock had the larger threat after loading the bases with two outs on a single, a walk, and a hit batsman. But, Raines was able to retire Mitchell Wood on a shallow fly ball to left field to end the inning.

Bloomsburg touched up Slippery Rock starter, Alex Pantuso, in the top of the second. But, the damage was self-inflicted as Pantuso walked four Huskies and uncorked a wild pitch in the inning which allowed freshman Kyle OFier (Pittston, Pa./Pittston Area), who drew a leadoff walk, to scamper home for the game's first run. Then, after a walk to sophomore Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) - Pantuso's fourth free pass of the inning - to load the bases, redshirt senior Austin Edgette (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) launched a 1-1 offering over the right field fence for a grand slam home run. It was the Huskies' only hit of the inning, but it gave Edgette the team lead in both home runs (7) and runs batted in (43) on the year and, more importantly, gave the Huskies a 5-0 lead.

Slippery Rock stormed right back with four runs in the home half of the inning to cut the Bloomsburg lead to 5-4. With two outs and runners at first and third, Luca Fuscardo got The Rock on the board with an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-1. Then, the PSAC West Player of the Year, Tyler Walters, belted a 2-2 breaking ball from Raines over the left field wall to cut the lead to 5-4. It was Walters' 14th home run of the season.

In the top of the third, the Huskies got one of the runs back to extend the lead to 6-4. Sophomore Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) hustled down the line to reach on an infield single which plated OFier for the only run of the inning. After Slippery Rock went quietly in the bottom half of the third, Bloomsburg scored again in the fourth to push the lead to 7-4. Redshirt junior Shane Woelfel (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah) singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored on a two-out single from OFier to provide the offense in the inning.

The Huskies took advantage of a costly error in the top of the fifth as they scored twice to take a 9-4 lead. Junior Ryan Shiffer (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a walk to sophomore Nate Krizan (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Township), and then both runners advanced 90 feet on a passed ball. Two batters later, Swiger hit a bouncer to third which should have caught Shiffer in a rundown. But, the ball bounced away from the Slippery Rock third baseman, allowing Shiffer to score for the first run of the inning. After Edgette was intentionally walked, Woelfel hit a sacrifice fly to left to plate Krizan for the second run of the frame and a 9-4 Huskies' lead.

Slippery Rock cut the lead to three in the bottom of the seventh. Walters singled through the left side of the infield and then scored on a two-run home run from Christian Porterfield which trimmed the Bloomsburg lead to 9-6. It was Porterfield's 13th round-tripper of the year. Joe Campagna followed with a single but some solid infield defense up the middle by Krizan and OFier allowed Raines to get out of the inning with no further damage.

And, as they did all game, the Huskies responded. In the visiting half of the eighth, Shiffer started a rally with a one-out double to center. Redshirt freshman Christian Ciotti (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) came on to pinch run and scored from second on a well-executed hit-and-run as Krizan found a hole to plate Bloomsburg's tenth run of the day.

The Huskies tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth on an RBI double from OFier, a sacrifice fly from junior Colton Hooker (Warrington, Pa./Upper Moreland), and a run-scoring single by freshman Jared Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty). Slippery Rock scored its final run in the bottom of the ninth when Walters led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch by Hinkle.

Pantuso suffered the loss for Slippery Rock as he fell to 7-3 on the year. He labored through four innings as he allowed seven runs on six hits while walking six and striking out six. He needed 104 pitches in his four innings of work.

Both teams had 14 hits in the contest. Edgette, Woelfel, and OFier paced the Huskies with three hits apiece. Edgette went 3-for-5 with a walk, a home run, and four runs batted in. He also stole his 22nd base of the season in the first inning. Woelfel was 3-for-5 with a run socred and an RBI in his first start since April 14 and OFier was 3-for-5 with a team-high three runs scored and a pair of RBI. Shiffer finished with two hits and two runs scored while Krizan reached base five times as he went 1-for-2 with four walks.

Walters, meanwhile, was 4-for-5 for The Rock and was a double shy of hitting for the cycle. He also scored three times and drove in three runs.

The Huskies will now play the winner of the West Chester / Seton Hill contest which was getting underway following the conclusion of the Bloomsburg victory. That game is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 10.