CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle softball team closed out their week with a pair of shutout victories on Saturday, sweeping the Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats in both ends of a doubleheader. Clarion won the first game by a 16-0 score in five innings and then held on for a 3-0 win in the second game of the day.
 
In the process, Alyssa Stitt broke the program's single-season record for RBIs, driving in four runs in the first game to give her 32 on the season. The senior outfielder will have the chance to add on more as the team has 18 games remaining on the schedule.
 
Game 1: Clarion 16, Pitt-Johnstown 0 (5 inn.)
Recap: The first almost literally could not have started any better for the Golden Eagles, was starting pitcher Emma Hipps retired the Mountain Cats in order before giving way to the Clarion bats. The result was an inning where 13 Golden Eagles stepped to the plate, scoring nine runs on seven hits to turn the game into an early rout.
 
Included in the first inning blitz were three RBIs in two separate at-bats for Stitt, with two coming on a two-run single to make it a 7-0 score. Those runs batted in tied Stitt with Rebecca Kelley's 2021 season total. Also in the inning was a three-run home run for Amber Gilliam, who crushed a pitch off starter Tori Radvan over the center field fence to score Annika Smith and Emily Buchleitner. Buchleitner and Tori Martrano also drove in runs, with Buchleitner scoring Stitt on a single to center field and Mortrano diving home a pair with a single down the left field line.
 
Hipps kept up the momentum with a scoreless second inning in the circle, and the Golden Eagles tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the second. Brooke McCanna walked to load the bases with one out, and Carissa Giordano lifted a two-run single to center field to score Amber Gilliam and Kathryn O'Horo. Stitt followed up with her record-breaking RBI, hitting a single to plate O'Horo to make it 12-0.
 
The parade of runs continued in the bottom of the third. Buchleitner hit a two-run home run that scored Martrano to make it 14-0, and the duo of McCanna and O'Horo hit back-to-back RBI singles to increase the lead to 16-0.
 
Lost in the offensive bonanza was the standout pitching effort from Hipps. The freshman tossed her second complete game shutout of the season, this time allowing just one hit and three total baserunners. She struck out four but walked only one and faced just 18 total batters.
 
Stitt and McCanna each finishe the game with three hits, while Giordano and Buchleitner each had two hits and a stolen base.
 
Game 2: Clarion 3, Pitt-Johnstown 0
Recap: The second game of the day was a breezy seven-inning affair as neither side strung together too many offensive rallies. Golden Eagle starting pitcher Megan Anderson matched the result that Hipps put together in the first game, tossing her first complete game shutout of the season by keeping the Mountain Cats off balance. Anderson faced just four batters over the minimum, allowing five hits but walking none.
 
The Golden Eagle defense proved to be a difference maker in the second game as well, including a key play in the outfield that kept the Mountain Cats off the scoreboard early. With the game scoreless in the top of the third, Ailah Charles hit a leadoff double to the left field fence to get things going for Pitt-Johnstown. Emilia Santiago moved her over to third with a sacrifice bunt, and Laura Fox made good contact with a line drive to left field. Stitt made a diving grab to snag the liner and doubled up Charles at third base, getting Clarion out of the inning unscathed.
 
Anderson locked things down after that, allowing just three baserunners for the rest of the game, and only one further than first base. The Clarion offense then got the only runs it would need in the bottom of the fourth inning. Giordano and Stitt led off the inning with back-to-back walks, and both came around to score on Buchleitner's opposite field double that made it 2-0. Buchleitner eventually scored on a two-out single to center by Amber Gilliam, giving Clarion a three-run lead.
 
Giordano finished the game 0-for-1 at the plate but with two walks and three stolen bases, as the Golden Eagle recorded only three hits for the game. They did put up a clean sheet defensively, committing no errors in the win.
 
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