CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle softball team extended their win streak to three games on Friday with a doubleheader sweep of Lake Erie at Memorial Stadium, holding on for a 9-6 win in the early game before a five-inning 7-1 rout in the nightcap. The wins featured another outburst from Clarion (3-3, 1-3 PSAC West), who have scored 25 runs in their last three games.
 
Two days after claiming their first win of the season, the Golden Eagles recorded their first home sweep since dropping Slippery Rock in a two-game set back in the 2014 season. Similar to Wednesday's win over Mercyhurst, Clarion's bats did most of the work with 16 total hits over the two games. That played a large part in both games, but for different reasons. In the opening game, the Golden Eagles needed to hold off a late rally from the Storm, putting insurances runs at a premium. In the latter, it gave Clarion a comfortable lead early on and put them in a position to claim victory after five innings, with the game being called for darkness at that point.
 
Two Golden Eagle pitchers claimed their first collegiate victories on Friday. Kendyl Switzer (1-0) out-dueled Grace Hammer in the first game, while Chelsea Liroff (1-1) shut down the Storm in the second, to the tune of just three hits allowed in five innings. Megan Anderson polished off the win in the first game.
 
Game 1 Recap
Lake Erie struck first in the top of the second inning when Payton Brownlee scored Jordyn Hawkins on an RBI single, after Hawkins reached on an error. The Golden Eagles got the offensive motor humming in the third inning, starting with a lucky break when Brooke Cline reached on an error by the center fielder. Alyssa followed with a single, and Makenzie Wolfe drew a walk from Hammer to load the bases with one out. Jessica Cartia smacked a sharp grounder through the left side of the infield to plate a pair of runs, and Alexandra Brentzel scored Wolfe on a sacrifice fly to put Clarion ahead 3-1.
 
The Golden Eagles scored two runs apiece in each of the next three successive innings, tacking on to their advantage and responding to the Storm's own offense. Stitt and Wolfe drove in runs in the fourth inning to put Clarion up 5-1, but Lake Erie's Leah Buck responded with a two-run homer in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 5-3. Switzer aided her own cause in the bottom of the inning, drilling an RBI double into the left-center gap and coming around to score on a single by Beka McClymonds. Rebecca Kelley closed Clarion's scoring in the sixth inning, bashing a two-run double to make it 9-3. The Storm rallied in the seventh inning, scoring three runs off Switzer and loading the bases to put the go-ahead run at the plate with one out. Anderson knuckled down and whiffed Brownlee and Chloe Allen to close out the win.
 
Game 2 Recap
The Storm again scored the first run of the game, threatening to break the game open when they loaded the bases with no one out. Liroff induced a double play when Parker Viele hit a liner directly at Cline, who then fired the ball to first to nail Allen. Jesse Carpenter smacked an RBI single to put her team on the boardv before Liroff forced a pop-up from pitcher Carly Rowland.
 
Thus ended the highlights for Lake Erie, as Clarion took complete control of the game the rest of the way. Carissa Giordano opened the first inning with an infield single and a stolen base, the first of three swiped bags she would record in this one, as well as the first of three times she'd reach base. Cartia smacked another RBI double to score her and tie the game, and the teams traded consecutive scoreless half innings.
 
Giordano got things going again in the third inning, this time with a walk and a steal. Cline delivered the first big punch with an RBI triple to the right center gap, and Wolfe scored her with a double to make it 3-1. Kelley kept it moving by pulling a hard grounder through the right side to score Wolfe and make it 4-1, and Tori Martrano scored on an error to make it 5-1 at the end of the third. Liroff worked a 1-2-3 fourth inning and tossed a scoreless fifth to shut the Storm down, while the Golden Eagles added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to set the final deficit at 7-1.