CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion softball team wrapped its season with a pair of tightly-contested games on Saturday, falling by scores of 7-0 and 5-3 to Bloomsburg on Senior Day. The Golden Eagles conclude their season with a 6-31 overall record, 3-17 in PSAC Central competition.
Game 1
The final score did not provide an accurate picture of the entire game, as the two teams were scoreless until the top of the fifth inning, when the Huskies went off for a five-run outburst. Starter
Sarah Gossard, throwing in the final game of her Clarion career, went zero for zero with the Huskies to start the game.
The offense had several chances with runners in scoring position early in the game, including a nice sequence in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Jessica Cartia led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a well-placed sacrifice bunt from
Moriah Lynn.
Rebecca Kelley followed her up with a single, putting runners on first and third with no outs. Bloomsburg escaped the inning by inducing pop-ups from
Cassidy Runyan and
Aryn Boyer.
The Huskies put up a four-spot in the top of the fifth inning, including a three-run home run by Kalynn Wheeland, but that didn't keep the Golden Eagles from attempting a rally. Clarion hit three consecutive singles in the bottom of the fifth inning, starting with
Haley Pszyk and following with Taylor Nonneberg and
Cassie Daniels. Cartia hit a fly ball to right field for the second out, and Pszyk was nabbed with an accurate throw to home plate for the final out of the inning.
Bloomsburg added three more runs in the top of the seventh to build a 7-0 lead, but the Golden Eagles nearly cut into that lead in the home half of the inning.
Natalie Else and Pszyk walked in back-to-back plate appearances, and Nonneberg rapped a single to load the bases with one out. They came up short though as the Huskies retired Daniels and Cartia to end the game.
Game 2
Huskies built a 2-0 lead with a run apiece in the first and third innings, but Cartia helped the Golden Eagles cut that lead in half in the bottom of the third inning.
Aryn Boyer and Nonnenberg hit back-to-back one-out singles, and Cartia was able to bring Boyer across two batters later when her ground ball to short was misplayed for an error.
Moriah Lynn followed that up with a hit by pitch to load the bases, but Kelley grounded out sharply to shortstop to end the threat.
Bloomsburg added another run in the top of the fifth to go up 3-1, and eventually took a 5-1 lead in the top of the seventh. Clarion wasn't ready to give up, though, cutting into the Husky lead and nearly overtaking it. Daniels hit a one-out single and Cartia put a shock into Bloomsburg with a two-run home run, extending her own single-season home run record to nine. Lynn and Kelley were subsequently retired, though, ending the game.
