Scoop on The Rock

If you're planning to attend a game at Slippery Rock's Jack Critchfield Park, here's a few thinng you need to know and some things that will catch your attention when there:

* It's a Division II college park, so it's small. Very small. There are only three rows of green reserved seats around the bottom of the seating bowl. Chances are, if you go on a weekend, you won't get two seats together unless you arrive at the park very early or purchase tickets in advance. A crowd of only 600 will make the park seem cramped.

* Don't try to park in the first 4 or 5 spaces in the lot right outside the gate behind home plate. Your car could be hit by a foul ball.

* Because the park has an all-metal seating bowl, fans must leave the ballpark and return to their cars if lightning is in the area. This happened Saturday night. All fans were told to leave and campus police were there to make sure you left. The heavy rain moved in quickly, so those who took their time exiting and had their cars parked in the lower lots were soaked by the time they entered their automobiles.

* Parking costs $2.

* The bleachers do not have backrests on them, unlike Consol Energy Park.

* The field needed the rain. It wasn't bad, but I've seen better. The first thing I noticed when entering the seating area Saturday night was the dead grass - or lack of grass - in the area behind home plate, where players and coaches stand during batting practice. There were a few other small patches of brown grass on the edges of the infield and outfield. I had a whole new appreciation for Steve Zavacky and his crew after seeing this field.