CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle softball kicked off a four-game homestand with a resounding pair of victories on Thursday afternoon, sweeping both ends of a doubleheader with Pitt-Johnstown at Memorial Stadium. Clarion pounded out a dozen runs in a 12-4 win in the opening game of the doubleheader before holding on for a 2-1 victory in the nightcap.
 
Game 1: Clarion 12, Pitt-Johnstown 4 (6 inn.)
 
RECAP: The Golden Eagles rebounded from a rocky first inning for an offensive explosion, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Mountain Cats in a span of just six innings. Clarion pounded out 16 hits and took advantage of a pair of UPJ errors, scoring 11 combined runs in the second through fourth innings and walking off the win in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Haylie Rimmey got things going in the bottom of the sixth with a one-out single to left field, and Desi Allen crushed a double to the base of the fence in center field to put runners on second and third with one out. Rimmey was thrown out trying to reach home on Billie Aguglia's grounder to shortstop but Annika Smith wrapped things up in the next at-bat, hitting a flare to shallow right field to bring Allen home from third base.
 
The Mountain Cats looked to have the better of the momentum early on, taking a 3-0 lead on Jenna Tallman's three-run home run to left field in the top of the first inning. The Clarion lineup warmed up in the bottom of the second inning, erasing that deficit and taking the lead for good with a four-run output. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with one out and Aguglia put them on the board, driving a base hit to right to make it 3-2.
 
Emily Buchleitner drove in another run and helped one more score later in the inning, hitting a chopper to pitcher Julie Shinavski and beating out the throw to first base. That brought Allen home, and Aguglia followed when the throw to first base went off the mark, making it a 4-3 Clarion lead.
 
Starting pitcher Emma Hipps settled after the first inning and threw herself out of a jam in the third, stranding two runners in scoring position with a swinging strikeout of Brynnae Coe. That set up an even better bottom of the third, with Clarion scoring five runs and giving themselves a considerable cushion. Rachel Helsley hit the first of her three doubles to lead off the inning, kicking off a run of four straight hits by Golden Eagle batters. Tori Martrano and Rimmey hit RBI singles to make it 6-3, and Aguglia drilled a triple to deep right-center to clear the bases and give her team an 8-3 lead. Smith closed the inning's scoring with a grounder to second to drive in Aguglia.
 
Helsley and Martrano hooked up for another run in the bottom of the fourth inning, with the former leading off with another double and the latter driving a single to the outfield for an RBI that made it 10-3. An error at third base allowed Jordy Best to score from third later in the inning, giving the Golden Eagles an 11-run total. Hipps continued to cruise, ultimately striking out 11 Mountain Cats in five innings before giving way to Ashley DeWeese. DeWeese allowed just one hit but kept UPJ off the scoreboard in the sixth inning, setting up Smith for the walkoff hit.
 
Game 2: Clarion 2, Pitt-Johnstown 1
 
RECAP: The polar opposite of the first game, starting pitchers Mia Smith and Megan Anderson went pitch-for-pitch in a duel that featured just one earned run between the two pitchers.
 
Anderson – pitching in one of the final games of her college career at Memorial Stadium – authored her best performance of the season, throwing all seven innings and allowing just four hits and one run. She struck out four Mountain Cats and walked just one while her defense behind her converted 10 flyouts and seven groundouts.
 
Smith was equally dominant for the Mountain Cats, but Clarion took advantage of a couple errors to put themselves on the scoreboard. The Golden Eagles did not even have a baserunner until one out in the third, when Aguglia hit a one-out single to right to get aboard. Annika Smith reached first when first baseman Ailah Charles dropped a throw on a routine ground ball, allowing Aguglia to get around to third base. Buchleitner hit a sharp grounder to second base, making an out but allowing Aguglia to score and make it 1-0.
 
Clarion added another run in the fourth inning, once again taking advantage of an error. Helsley led off with a single and eventually moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Kathryn O'Horo. Haylie Rimmey lifted a pop fly to center field, setting up a potential sacrifice fly and play at the plate, but Sydney Mitchell dropped the ball and allowed Helsley to score from third without a throw.
 
Anderson, for her part, kept the Mountain Cats off the scoreboard until the top of the sixth inning, when Kayla Miehl hit an RBI single to left field to score Krista Brunson to cut the lead to 2-1. She bounced back with another goose egg in the seventh, forcing a grounder from Hannah Gnibus to end the game.
  Read Full Article