CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion softball team fell in a pair of home games on Saturday afternoon, dropping both ends of a doubleheader to IUP by scores of 9-0 and 9-3.  The Golden Eagles (6-38, 2-14 PSAC Central) will have two more home doubleheaders this season, starting with a twinbill against Mercyhurst scheduled for Tuesday.
 
Cassidy Runyan and Aryn Boyer each drove in a run for the Golden Eagles in the second game, hitting back-to-back RBI singles in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull Clarion to within 9-3.  The Golden Eagles had the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh inning after a Brigid Stermel walk, but Taylor Nonnenberg hit a sharp grounder to second base that was gloved and flipped to first to end the game.
 
Paige Baker (1-7) suffered the pitching loss in game one, making a gutsy effort to enter on short notice when starter Kira Smith abruptly left the game after being struck in the leg by a comebacker. Baker threw 2.2 innings, allowing six runs, though just one earned.  Macy Rubin also contributed in relief, tossing four innings and allowing three unearned runs.  Rachel Hoffman (5-12) tossed a complete game in the nightcap.
 
Clarion's best chance to make noise in the first game came in the bottom of the third inning, after Boyer struck a leadoff single and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Stermel moved her over to third with a one-out liner into center field, but was herself erased from the basepaths when she was caught stealing second.  Casey Wilcox hit a sharp liner that was gloved by the third baseman to end the inning, leaving IUP with a 6-0 advantage.
 
The second game was close in the early going, with Clarion taking a 1-0 lead on the Crimson Hawks in the bottom of the second inning.  Kimberly Burdett led off the inning with a double to deep right field and was lifted for pinch runner Alexis Boie.  Laura Sadowski laid down a perfect bunt on the third base line, advancing Boie to third while also beating out the throw for the infield single, and then helped Boie come around to score on a delayed steal of home in the next at-bat.
 
IUP tagged Hoffman for four runs in the fourth inning, though, and the Golden Eagles were unable to battle back until the bottom of the seventh.