BUTLER, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle baseball team kicked off conference play on Friday afternoon, falling in a pair of games to IUP at Historic Pullman Park. The Crimson Hawks won the first game by a 9-3 score, and took the second game by a 6-0 result.
 
IUP 9, Clarion 3
Recap: The game was actually most closer than the final score indicated, as the two teams were tied heading into the final full inning of action. Both sides worked hard to manufacture runs against the other to that point, with Clarion rebounding from a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead midway through the game. Andrew Sicinski gave IUP a 1-0 lead in the first inning when his RBI double to left center scored Torrey Roper, who reached on a two-out error, and Harrison Pontoli made it 2-0 in the third inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Au'Sean Owens.
 
The Golden Eagles responded in the bottom of the fourth inning, briefly taking the lead thanks to timely hitting and a fortunate break. Lenny Piccini and Daren Byers strung together back-to-back one-out singles, and Tyler Meachum drew a walk from starter Jeremiah Williams with two outs to load the bases. Nate Petke busted things open in the next at-bat, driving a pitch to center field to score Byers and Piccini and even things up at 2-2. Kasey Shughart followed Petke to the plate and helped tack on another run, as third baseman Peyton Johnson could not handle Shughart's ground ball and allowed Petke to score.
 
That gave the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead, but the Crimson Hawks countered with an RBI groundout by Torrey Roper in the fifth inning. Starter Michael Proios threw a scoreless sixth inning but had to settle for the no-decision as IUP kept the Golden Eagles off the board in the home half of the inning. The Crimson Hawks scored six unanswered runs in the top of the seventh off reliever Riley Palmer, and IUP reliever Paul Tripi – who entered the game in the fourth – retired Clarion 1-2-3 in the seventh for the win.
 
Petke finished the first game 2-of-3 with two RBIs. Proios went for six full innings, allowing three runs – just two earned – while allowing only six hits.
 
IUP 6, Clarion 0
Recap: The pace of the second game of the day was lightning-fast as neither starting pitcher yielded much to their opponents for large portions of the game. Golden Eagle starter Sam Rice did not even allow a baserunner until one out in the fourth inning, retiring the first 10 batters he saw. That baserunner, Harrison Pontoli, did manage to score the only run the Crimson Hawks would need in the top of the fourth inning, scoring on Sicinski's RBI groundout that made it 1-0.
 
In fact, the Crimson Hawks scored one run apiece in the fourth through sixth innings, building a modest 3-0 lead despite never quite solving Rice in that time frame. They managed to kick the door in during the seventh inning, when Markus Cestra scored Elijah Dunn with a single and Davin Landers brought home a pair with a two-run double to right center that made it 6-0.
 
Conversely, Clarion's best opportunity to get on the scoreboard came in the very first inning, when Shughart and Caden Contant opened the game with back-to-back base hits. Scott McManamon attempted to bunt the pair over but he popped it up into the glove of Johnson, who fired to second base to nab Shughart on a double play. The Golden Eagles hit into another double play in the second inning to thwart a potential scoring situation.
 
IUP starter Mark Edeburn tamed the Golden Eagle offense, throwing a complete game three-hitter. He struck out only two but walked only one. Rice also threw a complete game, giving up six runs.
  Read Full Article