CLARION, Pa. --- Trying to stem the tide against one of the best pitching teams in the conference, the Golden Eagles found that two big innings were their undoing in dropping both ends of a doubleheader to Seton Hill. The Griffins won the first game of the day by a 9-2 score, and the second by a 9-5 margin.
 
Game 1: Seton Hill 9, Clarion 2
Recap: Facing one of the top pitchers in the PSAC in earned run average (ERA) entering the day, in the guise of pitcher Lauren Dellett, the Golden Eagles had their opportunities for the big inning against the Griffins but could not quite find the big hit. One such opportunity came right in the bottom of the first inning, when Alyssa Stitt and Emily Buchleitner drew back-to-back one-out walks. Dellett escaped the damage with two strikeouts to end the inning, part of her 11 total punchouts in the first game.
 
The Griffins scored once in the top of the second, though pitcher Emma Hipps limited the damage to just that one run by making a throw home to get Camryn Murphy at dish, with Billie Aguglia applying the tag. Seton Hill broke through in the third inning, scoring five runs to take a 6-0 lead that would hold up for the remainder.
 
Clarion got one of those runs back in the bottom of the third when Alyssa Stitt lifted a fly ball to deep left field, scoring Kathryn O'Horo on a sacrifice fly to make it 6-1. Clarion's best opportunity to come back came in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Golden Eagles trailing 8-1. Buchleitner hit an leadoff triple to deep center field, with Rachel Helsley subsequently drawing a walk and Desi Allen being hit by pitch to load the bases. Tori Martrano kept the carousel running with an opposite-field RBI single, but Dellett struck out three straight batters to halt the rally and ultimately secure the win.
 
Carissa Giordano went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, breaking a three-way tie atop the Golden Eagles' career record book for stolen bases. Giordano now has 27 swiped bags in her career. Hipps allowed six runs – three earned – in three innings before being lifted for Angelina Pepe. Pepe allowed three runs – two earned – in four innings of relief.
 
Seton Hill 9, Clarion 5
Recap: Once again, the majority of the damage by the Griffins was done in one inning. In fact, Seton Hill scored all nine of their runs in the first three innings, including a five-spot in the top of the third inning to take a 9-0 lead. The Golden Eagle pitchers shut out the Griffins the rest of the way, with Kendyl Switzer and Ashley DeWeese throwing four straight shutout innings to give the Golden Eagles a chance to come back.
 
Clarion chipped away little by little at the Seton Hill lead, but could not find the big hit needed to totally threaten the Griffins. Giordano and O'Horo scored in the bottom of the third inning after Buchleitner hit a sharp ground ball to shortstop for an infield single; O'Horo scored easily from third without a throw, but the throw by Nina Grandey to get Buchleitner was off the mark and allowed Giordano to score from second, making it 9-2.
 
Another Seton Hill error in the fourth inning allowed the Golden Eagles to score, this time with O'Horo at the plate. With two outs and Brooke McCanna on first, Horo hit a sharp line drive to center field. Murphy booted the ball in the outfield, allowed McCanna to come around third and head home on a dead sprint.
 
The Golden Eagles had the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning but could only plate one run, with Martrano hitting a sacrifice fly to shallow left field to score Alyssa Stitt. Stitt hit a sac fly herself in the sixth inning, but that would be all the closer the Golden Eagles got.
 
Buchleitner went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while O'Horo went 2-of-2 with a run scored. Annika Smith went 1-for-3 with a walk and made a highlight reel catch in the first inning, sprinting through foul territory in right field and crashing into a fence to retire Grandey. Smith's momentum caused her to blow through the chain link gate but she managed to hold onto the ball for the first out of the inning.
 
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