CLARION, Pa. --- It was a slugfest from the jump at Memorial Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, with the Golden Eagle baseball team outlasting Penn State – DuBois for a 16-12 non-conference win. Clarion and the Nittany Lions combined for 28 runs on 29 hits, with nine errors between the two sides.
Some history was made for the Golden Eagles, as
Scott McManamon broke the program's single-season stolen base record with three swiped bags. The junior shortstop broke the record after his very first at-bat of the game, reaching on a single up the middle and advancing to second on
Caden Contant's groundout. McManamon stole third base, beating a high throw to secure the historic mark. The previous record of 20 stolen bases in a season was held by Chandler Palyas, who set the mark in 2019.
The shortstop also tied a single-season record in the win, matching Thomas Lavin's single-season home run record with his ninth big fly of the season. The historic blast came with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. McManamon drilled a pitch over the left field fence for a solo home run, the 15
th of his career. That puts him five behind the program's career record.
That home run came at an opportune time, too, as the feisty Nittany Lions put up a huge smattering of runs in the game. In fact, Penn State – DuBois scored five runs to start the game, taking a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second inning. Clarion put a stop to the bleeding in the bottom of the frame with four runs of their own, starting with
Lenny Piccini's leadoff home run to make it 5-1.
Alfredo Hurtado hit his first home run of the season later in that inning, a three-run bomb over the left field fence to cut the Nittany Lions' lead to 5-4.
Penn State – DuBois tacked on two runs in the third inning, though Piccini and
Sam Felner added RBI singles in the home half of the inning to keep it a one-run game. McManamon's home run tied the game at seven runs apiece in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the teams would still trade the lead a number of times until the late innings. Felner briefly put the Golden Eagles ahead 8-7 with an RBI single to left field, but Brett Beith's two-run single in the top of the seventh inning gave the Nittany Lions a 10-9 advantage.
Clarion scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Cole Knable, with Pitzer scoring
Daren Byers on an RBI double and Felner plating Pitzer on a sacrifice fly. That gave Clarion an 11-10 lead, and the Golden Eagles tacked on five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to give
Isaac Schleich a significant lead. The reliever – who picked up the win with four innings of action – allowed two runs in the top of the ninth inning, but he stranded the bases loaded by inducing Tyler Yough into a flyout to left field.
Five different Golden Eagles recorded multiple hits in the game, with Felner leading the charge at 3-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs. Hurtado drove in a trio of runs while Piccini and McManamon each accounted for two RBIs.
