ERIE, Pa. – The Golden Eagle softball team fell in both ends of a road doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, dropping a pair of close games to Gannon at McConnell Family Stadium. Clarion (7-15, 5-13 PSAC West) lost the first game by a 10-6 score, and the second by a narrow 2-0 margin.
 
Similar to Thursday's results against the Golden Knights in Clarion, the Golden Eagles were stricken by one difficult inning in the opening contest against Gannon. The Golden Knights scored nine of their 10 runs in the bottom of the third inning, scoring four runs apiece off starter Laura Sadowski (1-2) and reliever Chelsea Liroff. Clarion held Gannon to just a single run otherwise and scattered six runs over the course of the game themselves, coming close to tying the game late in the seventh inning.
 
The Golden Eagles, in fact, held a 4-0 lead in the contest heading into that bottom of the third. Makenzie Wolfe drove in the first run of the game in the top of the second, scoring Hannah Norton from third on a groundout to the right side of the infield. Clarion really got to starter Kennedy DeMatteis in the third, touching her up for three runs on three hits. They loaded the bases with one out and tallied their first run of the inning on a wild pitch that scored Carissa Giordano. Rebecca Kelley drove in a pair with two-out single through the infield, bringing home Brooke Cline and Alyssa Stitt to make it 4-0.
 
Gannon exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the third, starting with a grand slam by Maria Taliani to tie the score at 4-4. Neither team crossed home plate again until a Golden Knight run in the fifth made it 10-4, but Clarion refused to go quietly in the seventh. Stitt led off the inning with a triple and scored on a sac fly from Cline to make it 10-5. Jessica Cartia drove in her 25^th run of the season a bit later, scoring Beka McClymonds to break the program's single-season RBI record.  The Golden Eagles had runners on first and second with two outs but Rachel Helsley was retired on a fielder's choice to end the threat.
 
Comparatively, the second game moved at a much quicker pace, with starters Rebecca Tatone and Kendyl Switzer (1-2) both going the distance. Neither team managed much offense over the course of the game, but Gannon was able to score the only run they needed in the fourth with a sac fly by Jules Ryan. Taliani added another with an RBI double in the fifth to make it 2-0.
 
Clarion's best chance to strike came in the top of the fifth inning after Allison Gilliam hit a one-out single down the left field line. Carissa Giordano reached by being hit by a pitch to give Clarion runners on first and second with one out, but Tatone fought her way out of the inning.