WINTER HAVEN, Fla. --- The Golden Eagle softball team resumed action at THE Spring Games on Sunday, dropping a pair of games at the Diamondplex in the early part of the day. Clarion lost a 15-4 decision to Tiffin in five innings in the early game, and later fell by an 8-5 score to Thomas More.
 
Tiffin 15, Clarion 4 (5 inn.)
 
Recap: The final score did not tell the whole tale of the first game, as one bad inning proved to be the Golden Eagles' downfall in their meeting with the Dragons. Clarion trailed just 3-2 entering the top of the fourth inning when Tiffin exploded for nine runs, pushing the lead beyond the Golden Eagles' reach.
 
The Dragons opened the game with a three-spot in the top of the first inning, including a two-run home run by Maci Head that cleared the left field fence with one out. That was all the offense for Tiffin for a few innings though as the Golden Eagles chipped away. Tori Martrano led off the bottom of the second inning with a single to right field, and pinch runner Lauren Hartman eventually came around to score when pitcher Claire Feldkamp mishandled a grounder from Jordan Best on what would have been the final out.
 
Clarion pulled to within 3-2 in the third inning when Rachel Helsley lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Emily Buchleitner. The Golden Eagles had an opportunity to tie or take the lead as they loaded the bases with two outs on Haylie Rimmey's walk, but Feldkamp retired Amber Gilliam to end the threat.
 
The Dragons exploded for nine runs in the top of the fourth inning, with all of their baserunners coming after the first two outs were recorded. Baylee Mirgo capped the scoring with a three-run home run over the center field fence. The Golden Eagles got two of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Desi Allen and Martrano, but the Dragons maintained their considerable lead and ended the game in five innings.
 
Thomas More 8, Clarion 5
 
Recap: It was another game where the two sides were evenly matched for most of the afternoon, but the Saints benefitted from a four-run fourth inning that broke the game open for them.
 
Thomas More scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning but the Golden Eagles cut the advantage in half in the top of the second. Delanie Davison led off the inning with a single to left field, and the Golden Eagles loaded the bases when Annika Smith and Kathryn O'Horo were hit by pitches in back-to-back one-out plate appearances. Buchleitner drew a walk to bring Davison across, making it 2-1.
 
The Saints scored another run in the bottom of the fourth to increase the lead to 3-1, and then went off for four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-1 advantage.
 
It was 8-1 heading into the top of the seventh, when the Golden Eagles put pressure on the Saints and in fact put the tying run at the plate. Clarion put up four runs in the inning, starting with an RBI single by Allen that extended past the reach of the middle infielders. Martrano drove in another run with a sharp line-drive single to right-center field, and Rachel Helsley pulled a liner into left field to make it 8-4. Davison came up just shy of a three-run home run in the next at-bat, driving a ball to deep left-center for an RBI double. The rally came to an end, though, when Billie Aguglia's hard liner was stabbed for a catch and turned into a double play at third.
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