CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle baseball team finished off a four-game season sweep of a conference opponent for the first time since 2021, winning both ends of a home doubleheader with Pitt-Johnstown to tun their win streak to five games. Clarion won the first game in a 13-10 slugfest, and took a 6-0 shutout over the Mountain Cats in a rain-shortened second game.
 
Game 1: Clarion 13, Pitt-Johnstown 10
 
RECAP: The teams combined for 23 runs on 25 hits in the first game, but the Golden Eagles took advantage of a half-dozen Mountain Cat errors to overcome their opponents in the high-scoring contest. Clarion got off to leads of 7-1 and 9-3 but UPJ stormed back in the middle innings, cutting their deficit to 9-8 in the top of the fifth inning before Clarion added four insurance runs in the home half.
 
The Golden Eagles' most productive inning at the plate was the very first, when the first five batters reached base to help construct a 5-0 advantage. Scotty McManamon, Daren Byers and Kasey Shughart all recorded hits to start the game, with Shughart's driving in McManamon for the first run. Caden Contant drew a walk to load the bases and Griffin Snyder delivered an infield single to shortstop, with the latter driving in Byers and enabling Shughart to score after a throwing error at shortstop. Mason Kepler laid down a squeeze bunt to bring Contant home, and Alfredo Hurtado drilled an RBI single to center field to make it 5-0.
 
Clarion scored twice more in the bottom of the second inning, after McManamon led off with a double and scored on Shughart's single to left field. Contant lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center to score Shughart. Tyson Gill and Byers each drove in runs in the bottom of the third inning to put the Golden Eagles ahead 9-3.
 
The Mountain Cats put up two straight big innings to get back into the game, scoring three runs in the top of the fourth to pull within 9-6 and another two in the fifth to make it just a one-run game.  The Golden Eagle defense kept things from going completely the other way, turning a 6-4-3 double play in the third inning to sidestep a potential rally, and Gill threw out Garrett Prosper at home plate in the fourth inning.
 
Needing some insurance runs late in the game, Clarion got just that in the bottom of the fifth. McManamon logged his fourth hit of the game to score Tyler Meachum in a bases-loaded situation, and Byers reached on an error at second base to score Hurtado. With the bases still full of Golden Eagles, Contant took a pitch to the back to drive in one run, and Griffin Snyder hit a sac fly to center to up the lead to 13-8. UPJ pulled to within 13-10 heading into the seventh inning, but Danny Fox threw a scoreless frame for the save.
 
McManamon went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Shughart, Hurtado and Lenny Piccini each added two hits apiece. Contant and Griffin each drove in two runs.
 
Game 2: Clarion 6, Pitt-Johnstown 0
 
RECAP: The polar opposite of the slugfest first game, the nightcap breezed by in less than 90 minutes as pitchers Ryan Gallagher and Brendan Clifford cruised through the early innings. There were just two combined hits – one for each team – until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Golden Eagles broke through for the only runs they needed. The game was called after back-to-back Pitt-Johnstown singles in the top of the seventh inning as lightning and heavy storms approached the area.
 
 Byers got the big inning going with a leadoff triple, hitting a shot deep to center field that was nearly caught by a diving Justin Turcovski, but popped out of the glove on the way to the ground. He came home on Contant's single up the middle of the infield to open the scoring, and Ethan Giangiulio pushed a pinch-hit RBI single to left field to make it a 2-0 game. Hurtado continued his recent hot streak with another RBI, pulling a single through the left side to score Griffin Snyder, and a wild pitch allowed Connor Booth to score from third base to make it 4-0.
 
With storm clouds looming in the distance, Gallagher worked quickly to get through the final few innings. He retired the Mountain Cats in order in the top of the fifth inning, freezing Seth Helgert for a strikeout looking on a 3-2 count, and he set down UPJ in order in the top of the sixth inning as well. Gallagher finished with a complete-game shutout, allowing just three hits – a two-out double in the second inning and two singles in the seventh – and walking none.
 
Hurtado put a cherry on top of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, crushing a 3-1 pitch over the fence in left-center field for his second home run of the season and second in as many days. He has driven in nine runs in the last five games, including eight in the series with the Mountain Cats.