SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Clarion baseball team continued its late-season roll with a road split on Friday afternoon, falling 3-2 to Slippery Rock in the early game but beating The Rock 2-1 in the nightcap at Critchfield Park. With the split Clarion improves to 10-30 overall and 4-22 in PSAC West play. The Golden Eagles have won four of their last five games.
Josh Ponsoll had another strong day at the plate, going 3-of-6 with a home run, two singles and an RBI.
Mason McGuire and
Austin Mike each drove in runs in the second game while
Matt Kamenicky singled home a run in the first game.
Doug Conrad (1-6) pitched a gem in the late game, throwing seven innings of one-run ball against The Rock, including six straight shutout innings to close out the game. Slippery Rock held the lead for much of the game but the Golden Eagles manufactured runs in the fifth and seventh innings to overcome The Rock late in the game.
Sean White (1-5) allowed three runs in 6.0 innings pitched of Game 1.
Alex Bell hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning in Game 2 to put Slippery Rock ahead 1-0, and it would stay that way until McGuire struck in the top of the fifth inning.
Mike Lockhart hit a leadoff single and eventually came around to score with one out, reaching third on a wild pitch and coming across when McGuire lined one to right field.
The score now tied 1-1 entering the top of the seventh inning – with Conrad escaping a jam with runners on second and third in the sixth with a double play – the Golden Eagles went to work for the winning run.
Tyler Falk drew a leadoff walk and lifted for pinch-runner
Seth Mley. Mley promptly advanced to third base on a pair of wild pitches and scored when
Austin Mike drove a 1-2 pitch into center field to make it 2-1. Conrad notched two quick outs before allowing Kyle Wise to reach on a single, but he induced a flyout on the first pitch against Carson Kessler for the third out.
The two teams traded runs in each of the first two innings in Game 1, starting with a solo home run by
Josh Ponsoll that awas his second in as many games. Clarion took a 2-1 lead in the second inning after Mike worked a walk on an 11-pitch at-bat, scoring on Kamenicky's RBI single to right center. The Rock scored on a two-out single in the home half of the fourth inning to make it 3-2 and there it remained for the rest of the game as Slippery Rock won.
