WILSON, N.C. --- The Golden Eagles finished the middle portion of their three-game road trip, splitting the doubleheader, losing to Wheeling 7-1, and defeating Glenville State 11-0.
 
Wheeling 7, Clarion 1
 
RECAP: Wheeling jumped out to a quick start, putting three runs on the board in the first inning. Scott Kondroik singled up the middle into centerfield, scoring two runs. The Golden Eagles countered in the bottom half of the inning with a Kasey Shughart single, advancing on a fielder's choice into scoring position before Danny Byers flew out to left field to end the inning.
 
Clarion had scoring opportunities throughout the game, leaving ten runners stranded on base, including back-to-back innings where the bases were loaded. In the second inning, the Golden Eagles had a prime opportunity to earn some runs with the bases loaded with only one out, but the Cardinals pulled off a double play where the right fielder gunned Ethan Giangiulio out at home plate off a fly ball.
 
The third told a similar story as the Golden Eagles, as Scotty McManamon started the inning with a single, followed by Caden Cotant taking a walk. An error loaded the bases again with just one out, but Clarion struck out, and Lenny Piccini flied out to right field to shut the door on another golden opportunity.
 
The bats would be quiet until the fifth inning, when Wheeling tacked on a few more runs after a Clarion error brought across a couple of runs. The Cardinals added another run in the top of the seventh to bring their lead to 7-0.
 
In the bottom half of the seventh, the Golden Eagles put together three hits, started off by Griffin Snyder who beat out a single to third base, followed by a Shughart single. Contant brought Snyder home for Clarion's lone run with a single into left field.
 
The Golden Eagles had eight hits, with Caden Contant going 2-3, Kasey Shughart going 2-5, and Giangiulio contributing a double to the scorebook. Ryan Gallagher started on the bump for Clarion, going 3.2 innings and giving up four earned runs. Issac Schleich came in for relief, providing 4.1 innings of work, only allowing one earned run and fanning five batters.
 
Clarion 11, Glenville State 0
 
RECAP: Reilly Shafer was dominant on the bump in the second game of the day, authoring what could easily be called the best start of his college career. He mowed down the Pioneer lineup in the nightcap, throwing a complete game two-hit shutout in which he struck out 10 and walked none. Shafer faced just four batters above the minimum, with his lone free passes coming on two hit batsmen.
 
Conversely, the Golden Eagle offense sprung to life in the second game, smashing 13 hits for 11 runs in total. Ten of those runs came in the span of the fifth and sixth innings, breaking a scoreless tie with Glenville State and putting Clarion on easy street the rest of the way.  In the top of the fifth, Clarion strung together five consecutive base hits, starting with singles from Tyler Meachum and Kasey Shughart. Griffin Snyder scored that pair with a liner to center field, and Mason Kepler eventually plated Snyder with a two-out, bases loaded walk to make it 3-0.
 
The biggest rally of the day came in the sixth inning, when Clarion sent 13 batters to the plate. The Golden Eagles exploded for five hits and seven runs, while also taking advantage of a Pioneer error, to put the outcome of the game out of question. Sam Economy scored on a hard ground ball by Snyder, while Contant and Daren Byers lashed back-to-back RBI singles to make it 6-0. Tyson Gill punched a single into center field to score a pair and make it 8-0, and Economy followed with a bases-clearing two-run double to make it a 10-run game.
 
Snyder added one more RBI to his ledger in the top of the eight inning, singling home Meachum to make it 11-0. He finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored, and also reached on a walk. Contant, Byers, Economy and Meachum all finished with two hits apiece, while Gill and Economy each drove in a pair of runs.
 
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