CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle softball team finished off a doubleheader split with a complete game shutout, as Clarion won a 3-0 decision in the nightcap against Edinboro after dropping an 8-4 extra innings contest to open the day. Clarion (12-20, 8-18 PSAC West) kept it close with the Fighting Scots through both games, coming within a whisker of earning the doubleheader sweep at Memorial Stadium.
 
Megan Anderson (4-5) tossed the first complete game shutout of her career, as well as the Golden Eagles' first of the season, in the late game against the Fighting Scots. The sophomore righthander was not necessarily dominant – she allowed six hits and four walks through her seven innings – but she responded in every instance by escaping the jam. The defense also delivered with an error-free game, and Clarion committed just one error over the course of 16 total innings on Saturday.
 
Anderson helped her own cause with the first two hits of her college career, including an RBI single in the fourth inning that scored the only run she needed. Rebecca Kelley hit a one-out single, which was followed by a two-out single from Alexandra Brentzel to put runners on first and second. A wild pitch advanced the runners into scoring position and Anderson did the rest, lining a pitch into center field to score the pair and put Clarion ahead 2-0.
 
The Golden Eagles added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning, starting with a leadoff double by Alyssa Stitt. Brooke Cline drove her home on a grounder to shortstop, bringing her across from third to bump the lead to 3-0. Anderson allowed two hits to lead off the sixth inning but worked out of the jam, striking out Mackenzie Quider and inducing two pop-ups to end the inning. She quickly retired the first two batters of the seventh inning before Maura Pasquale hit a two-out single. Anderson forced Cheyenne Shughart to hit a ground ball to second base, with Cline flipping to Brentzel for the force out and the win.
 
The Golden Eagles very nearly took the first half of the doubleheader, but leads of 3-1 and 4-3 evaporated as the Fighting Scots rallied to tie it in the seventh inning. Rebecca Kelley hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning while starting pitcher Kendyl Switzer (1-4) aided her own cause with an RBI single in the second. Edinboro tied it at 3-3 in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Lauren Bush but Clarion responded in the sixth, taking advantage of Fighting Scot errors. Pinch runner Carissa Giordano scored on an error by the shortstop to put the Golden Eagles up 4-3, but Quider hit a solo home run in the seventh to tie it again.
 
Edinboro escaped a jam in the seventh when Jade Renner struck out two straight batters with runners on second and third. They broke through in the top of the ninth, scoring four runs to take an 8-4 lead. Renner put up one more zero in the bottom of the ninth for the victory.