CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle softball team wrapped up a four-game homestand on Monday afternoon, splitting a pair of games with Slippery Rock on a blustery day at Memorial Stadium. Clarion won the first game of the day in a slugfest, bashing four home runs in a 12-7 victory, before falling 10-2 in the late game.
 
Game 1: Clarion 12, Slippery Rock 7
 
RECAP: A strong wind blowing straight out to left-center field persisted over the course of both games on Monday, but it played an enormous role in the early game as the teams combined for seven home runs in a back-and-forth slugfest. It was apparent from very beginning of the game as Alexsa Hurd drove a double into the gap and Aubrey Mansfield followed with a two-run homer to make it 2-0.
 
Not to be outdone, Emily Buchleitner led off the bottom of the first by driving a pitch to the opposite-field gap for a triple, and Rachel Helsley scored her with a single up the middle to cut the Rock lead in half. Clarion loaded the bases before the end of the frame, allowing Hannah Powierza to drive in Tori Martrano by taking a pitch to the side of her torso. Kathryn O'Horo put Clarion ahead 4-2 in the second inning when she drilled a two-run double to the gap in left-center, but Slippery Rock tied in the third on a two-run bomb by Julia Montie.
 
That was apparently the cue for the Golden Eagles to get in on the home run derby. Powierza and Annika Smith hit back-to-back solo home runs to center field in the bottom of the third inning, with the latter's home run hitting the scoreboard in a towering shot. The Golden Eagles led 7-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning when they added two more homers, starting with a line drive shot from Haylie Rimmey that flew out just inside the left field foul pole. Buchleitner followed up with a no-doubter later in the inning, crushing a ball to left field for a three-run blast that made it 12-5.
 
Pitcher Emma Hipps picked up her seventh win of the season, gutting through the offensive battle for the victory. She allowed seven runs but made up for it by limiting just how many balls the Rock could elevate into the Windstream, striking out a season-high 12 batters. Alexis Valencia went 4-for-4 with three runs scored.
 
Game 2: Slippery Rock 10, Clarion 2
 
RECAP: It looked like the Golden Eagles might continue the home run parade around the basepaths in the second game, when O'Horo hit her third home run of the season with one out in the bottom of the first inning. Unlike the first game, that was the only run for either side for a good while as the starting pitchers – Hurd for the Rock, and Megan Anderson for the Golden Eagles – settled into a good rhythm.
 
The Rock broke that rhythm in the third inning, taking advantage of an error in center field to put a trio of runs across. Clarion took advantage of a Slippery Rock miscue in the fourth inning to put their own run on the board, with Helsley scoring from second base when Valencia hit a chopper through the infield that was thrown off target by the shortstop.
 
Things started to get away from the Golden Eagles in the fifth inning, when Grace Smith hit a three-run homer over the left field fence to make it 6-2. Meanwhile, Hurd, continued to make short work of the Clarion lineup, striking out a pair in the home half of the inning as part of a 16-strikeout effort. The Rock added another four runs in the top of the seventh inning to give themselves an eight-run cushion, and they rode it the rest of the way to the win. Read Full Article