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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – After falling behind 6-1 early, Slippery Rock rattled off eight unanswered runs to secure a 9-6 victory and end East Stroudsburg University's season at the PSAC Championships on Thursday afternoon.

Redshirt sophomore 3B Dylan Evert launched a grand slam in the second inning to account for four of ESU's six runs. James Divosevic went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and two RBIs for the Rock, including a go-ahead single in the bottom of the sixth.

Slippery Rock (27-19) advances to face either Mercyhurst or Shippensburg on Friday, while the Warriors finish 2017 with a record of 26-21-1.

Making his first start since Feb. 19 against Post, Evert quickly made his presence known during his first at-bat in the second inning. ESU had tied the score at 1-1 the batter before, as freshman SS Joey Paolini earned an RBI after being hit by a pitch. Evert then drilled a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left-center for the Warriors' first grand slam of the season.

ESU has now hit 21 grand slams since 2003, with Evert delivering the first postseason grand slam during that span.

Senior OF Ian Allen upped the lead to 6-1 with an RBI double off the high wall in left field in the top of the fourth, but the Rock plated four runs in the bottom of the frame, tied the contest in the fifth and went ahead in the sixth. SRU added an insurance run on a two-out single by Tyler Walters in the eighth. Walters finished the afternoon 3 for 5 with a team-high three RBIs.

The Warriors stranded two runners on in the eighth inning after Slippery Rock SS Joe Campagna made a diving stop on a liner from Allen with two outs, and ESU was unable to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth.

Allen is one nine Warrior seniors whose collegiate careers came to an end on Wednesday. In addition to his RBI double, he added his 101st career stolen base in the second inning. Allen leaves ESU ranked first all-time in steals, walks (109) and times reached base (327) and second in runs (162), RBIs (131), home runs (18), extra-base hits (68) and total bases (311). As a pitcher, he leads the program record books in both strikeouts per nine innings (10.8) and strikeout to walk ratio (4.5) and ranks eighth in strikeouts (167).

Other departing seniors include 2B Jay Young, RHP Tyler Eckman, 1B Dylan Tamecki, SS/RHP Conner Crookham, RHP Ben Stine, OF Casey Saverio, INF Billy Sablinski and RHP Ben Bortz.

Young registered his 197th career hit in the first inning, keeping him tied with Allen for eighth all-time. His career-batting average of .361 is the third-highest by a four-year player in school history.

Tamecki concludes a storied two-plus year career with the Warriors with a career average of .394 which ranks him second all-time. He is also among the program leaders in on-base percentage (.454) and slugging (.571).

Eckman leaves with a career ERA of 3.29 which is the third-lowest since 1985. He went 7-0 this season with a 2.70 ERA across 66 2/3 innings, posting the most wins without a loss in a single-season in progam history.

Notes:

* Freshman RHP Connor Johnson relieved Eckman in the fourth inning this afternoon. He set a new ESU freshman record with his 19th appearance of the spring.

* Redshirt sophomore PJ Van Ormen finished 2 for 4 as the designated hitter on Wednesday. Evert also reached base twice, ending the contest 1 for 3 with a walk.

* Allen is the 2nd ESU player and 6th PSAC player to finish his career with 150+ hits (197) and 150+ strikeouts (167). He is also the 3rd with 100+ stolen bases (101). He joined Brian Ernst (2010-13), who finished with 201 hits and 201 strikeouts, on the 150-150 list.

* Eckman (1st team SP), junior Steven Zimmerman, Jr. (1st team C), Allen (1st team utility) and Tamecki (2nd team 1B) were named All-PSAC East on Tuesday.

* Allen is the 4th ESU player to be named All-PSAC East 3 times in his career. Eckman, Zimmerman and Tamecki were all honored for the 2nd time.