Looking for his seventh win of the season, and his second straight at home, Cline was up against a Chillicothe Paints team in the thick of the wild card playoff race. Cline answered the call.

The left hander held the paints to five hits in a complete game shutout, as the Sliders defeated Chillicothe, 3-0, on Saturday night at Jack Critchfield Park. Paints’ lefty Brian Marshall took the loss for the Paints, surrendering three runs in four innings of work. Cline struck out seven batters and walked three in the win for Slippery Rock. The Sliders and Paints will play the second game of their two-game series on Sunday at 6:05 p.m.

The Sliders offense was led by two homeruns in the game, including homers by outfielders Casey Bowling and Jason Curry in the third and fifth innings, respectively. The Sliders got the scoring started in the bottom half of the first when Bowling scored on a sacrifice fly from left fielder Anthony Albano. Three runs would be all the Sliders would need against Marshall. Paints’ reliever Brian McCullough relieved Marshall in the fifth inning and didn’t allow the Sliders to cross the plate.

Chillicothe’s best chance to score came in the 6th inning against Cline when shortstop Travis Garcia singled, third baseman Adrian Cantu was hit by a pitch and catcher Dan Cummings walked. But Cline was able to get Jon Poterson to strike out to end the inning.