CARY, N.C. --- In a back-and-forth game that featured lead changes and exciting defensive plays, the Golden Eagle baseball team came up just a hair short in extra innings, falling 6-5 to Frostburg State in a 10-inning clash.
 
Similar to last year's meeting between the two teams, Saturday's game went down to the wire, with both teams having opportunities to clinch the win long before the result was actually decided. The Bobcats led 3-1 entering the eighth inning but Clarion rallied with three runs in the top of the frame to take the lead. Sam Economy and Daren Byers led off the inning with back-to-back singles and Nate Petke sacrificed the pair over into scoring position. Scott McManamon was intentionally walked to load the bases and Tyson Gill made the Bobcats pay, lining a hard single up the middle of the infield to score Economy and Byers and tie the game at 3-3.
 
Gill and McManamon moved themselves into scoring position with a double steal, and Caden Contant lifted a fly ball to deep center field to score the former from third base. That put Clarion ahead 4-3, and the combination of Bobby Curry and Danny Fox threw a scoreless bottom of the eighth to maintain the advantage. The score remained that way until one out in the bottom of the ninth, when an error by Fox allowed Tiernan Daly to score from third base and tie the game.
 
Fox prevented further damage by inducing a ground ball double-play, when Randy Steen inadvertently made contact with a ball while holding his swing. The ball kicked into the infield and Fox picked it up, finishing off a 1-4-3 double play to send the game to extra innings.  
 
In the extra frame, pinch-hitter Tyler Meachum led off the inning by reaching on an error and heading all the way to second base. Gill sacrificed him and McManamon over to third base, and Contant was intentionally walked to load the bags and set up the double play. That never came to fruition, though, as Mason Kepler drew a walk to score Meachum and give his team a 5-4 lead. The Bobcats rallied with two runs of their own in the bottom of the 10^th, with Lucas Gulczynski hitting a one-out, two-run single for the win.
 
Clarion scored their first run of the game on a wild pitch in the top of the first inning, with McManamon racing home to make it a 1-0 game. Frostburg State scored a pair of runs in the third inning and added another in the fourth to go ahead 3-1. All told, though, it was a quality start for Ryan Gallagher, who finished with the no decision. He allowed just three runs in seven innings, striking out nine Bobcats while walking only one.
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