WINTER HAVEN, Fla. --- The Golden Eagle softball team picked up a pair of wins on Tuesday, including a dramatic walk-off victory in the nightcap, on their third day of action at THE Spring Games. Clarion started their day with a come-from-behind 10-5 win over Concord and closed things out with a 2-1 win over Minnesota State – Mankato.
Clarion 10, Concord 5
Recap: The first game of the day was a rollercoaster of emotions as both teams enjoyed big innings to take the lead, but the Golden Eagles managed to outlast the Mountain Lions en route to the five-run win.
The first volley came from Clarion when they tagged starter Nancy-Jo Roberts for three runs on two hits in the first inning, chasing the Concord hurler after just 30 pitches. With two runners on and two outs,
Rachel Helsley pulled a hard single through the left side of the infield to score
Kathryn O'Horo, and
Haylie Rimmey followed up with a line drive double to deep left field to plate her and
Tori Martrano to give her side a 3-0 lead.
Concord got all that back and then some in the bottom of the second inning, notching four hits – including three doubles – to total five runs in the frame. Courtney Raines did the most damage, clearing the bases loaded with a two-out three-run double to put her team ahead. Lacie Lewis followed with an RBI double to set the score at 5-3.
Clarion was undeterred, though, rallying to score seven unanswered runs over the remainder of the game.
Desi Allen pulled the Golden Eagles to within a run in the top of the fourth inning when she dropped a single down the right field line to make it 5-4, but the big offensive outburst was still two innings away. The Golden Eagles exploded four runs and four hits in the top of the sixth inning to take an 8-5 lead, stunning the Mountain Lions.
Alexis Valencia led off the inning with an infield single to shortstop,
Emily Buchleitner reached on a base hit, and O'Horo loaded the bases by dropping a bunt single in front of the third baseman.
With the bases loaded, Allen drew a no-out walk to tie the game at 5-5. Buchleitner and O'Horo scored when
Tori Martrano hit a short ground ball down the first base line, with Morgan Cline overthrowing catcher Kayla Sholter to allow both runs across. Helsley knocked in her second run of the day later that inning, drilling a single to left field to make it 8-5. O'Horo added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning, singling up the middle of the infield to score a pair of runs and make it 10-5.
Emma Hipps picked up the win in relief – as it would turn out, it would be the first of two victories on Tuesday for the sophomore. Six Golden Eagles finished with multiple hits, including a three-hit game for Valencia, who also scored two runs.
Clarion 2, Minnesota State – Mankato 1
Recap: The second game of the day was the polar opposite of the first, as both starting pitchers were able to keep their opponents' lineups off the scoreboard for long portions of the game. Hipps – starting the second game after throwing five innings of relief in the first – was just a shade more effective than the Mavericks' pitching staff, allowing just one run in seven innings. She did this largely by allowing just one walk, and also with a clean defensive effort by her teammates in the field, with the latter not committing an error and factoring into five groundouts and 12 fly outs.
Two of those solid defensive plays came in the top of the first inning. Leadoff batter Kylie Sullivan led off the game with her team's only walk of the day but was quickly erased from the basepaths when
Billie Aguglia fired a strike to second base on a stolen base attempt. Elle Tallman then reached with an infield single but Hipps induced a grounder to Buchleitner, who touched second base and threw to first for a 6-3 double play to end the inning.
MSU got on the board in the top of the fifth inning by stringing together three singles, with Izzy Hycnar eventually bringing a run home on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. Clarion was still without a run of their own until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Aguglia launched a 1-2 pitch from Kacy Nickerson over the fence in left-center field for a home run to tie the game. That solo shot pulled the Golden Eagles even and Helsley helped to keep it that way in the top of the seventh, throwing out the lead runner at second base from right field to keep the Mavericks from putting a runner in scoring position.
O'Horo and Martrano provided the heroics in the bottom of the seventh inning. The former led off the frame with a hustle double, lining a hard shot down the left field line and beating the throw in to second base with a good slide. Allen moved her over with a single to right field, putting Martrano at the plate with no outs and a runner on third. She lifted a fly ball to shallow center field, but it was just deep enough to allow O'Horo to slide home for the win.
