ERIE, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle baseball team concluded their season series with Gannon on Friday afternoon, dropping both ends of a doubleheader to the Golden Knights at McConnell Family Stadium. Clarion lost an 8-7 game in the first half of the doubleheader, and a 10-0 decision in the second game.
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Gannon 8, Clarion 7
Recap: The Golden Eagles took an early lead and later in the game broke a tie, but Clarion was unable to make the lead stand up as the Golden Knights stormed back for a walk-off win in the seventh inning.
Scott McManamon and
Caden Contant started things off in the third inning, with the former drilling an RBI double down the left field line to score
Nate Petke, and the latter hitting a sacrifice fly to up the lead to 2-0.
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Contant added another RBI – his second of the day – in the top of the fifth inning.
Kasey Shughart drew a two-out walk and advanced to second on McManamon's single through the left side. Contant pulled a liner through the left side to score Shughart, and
Mason Kepler added a base knock to plate McManamon and give his team a 4-1 lead. Gannon responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, including a two-run single by Kieran Gagnon to tie the game.
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Petke got two of those runs back in the sixth inning, putting his team back ahead with a two-out, two-run RBI single. He hit one between the third baseman and shortstop to drive home
Daren Byers and
Sam Economy, making it a 6-4 Golden Eagle lead. Kepler hit an RBI double in the seventh inning to up Clarion's lead to 7-4, but Gannon raged back in the home half of the inning for the win. Trey Zeroski hit a one-out two-run single up the middle to score Miguel Vega and Ryan Kalbfus, and Justin Kerestes lined a single down the right field line to score Gagnon and lock up the win.
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Reilly Shafer started the game and got a no-decision, throwing 5.2 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits, with four strikeouts and four walks.
Griffin Snyder took the loss, allowing four runs – three earned – in the seventh inning. Four Golden Eagles finished with multiple hits, with three of them – Contant, Kepler and McManamon – hitting doubles.
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Gannon 10, Clarion 0
Recap: Comparatively, the Golden Eagles' bats cooled off considerably in the second game, as starting pitcher Jacob Engel held them to just three hits and one base on balls in a complete game shutout. Engel didn't even allow a Clarion baserunner to reach scoring position until the top of the seventh inning, when Contant drew a leadoff walk and moved to second base on a wild pitch.
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The Golden Eagles led off the game with a hit, as
Tyler Meachum reached on an infield single to third base. Engel induced a ground ball double play from McManamon, retiring the pair 5-4-3 to end that threat. The next Clarion baserunner came in the fifth inning, when Byers hit a single to right field.
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Gannon took the lead in the bottom of the second inning, when Branden Myers hit the gap in left-center for a two-run double. They plugged away for three runs off reliever
Logan Schlegel in the third inning, with Vega and Gagnon hitting home runs to increase the lead to 5-0. The Golden Knights put up another three runs in the fifth inning, and Gagnon finished his day by hitting for the cycle with an RBI double in the sixth inning.
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Anthony Tucci took the loss, allowing just two runs in two innings of work.
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