WILSON, N.C. --- The Golden Eagles baseball team kicked off a four-game set at Wilson Tobs with a split on Friday, with Clarion beating West Virginia State 8-5 and falling to Jefferson 11-1 in the first day of action. Clarion will face the same teams in a doubleheader on Saturday.Â
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Game 1: Clarion 8, West Virginia State 5Â
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RECAP: The Golden Eagles stunned the Yellow Jackets with an offensive explosion in the latter innings of the first game of the day, including a six-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth inning that gave them the lead for good. West Virginia State took a 4-0 lead early in the game, including a two-run double by Tyler Overaitis.Â
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Clarion erased that lead and then some in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring six runs on four hits to take a two-run lead. Griffin Snyder drilled a single to center field to score
Ethan McNally and put the Golden Eagles on the scoreboard for the first time, and eventually the Golden Eagles loaded the bases with two outs against pitcher Jared Nethercutt. Nethercutt hit
Jack Hurda with a pitch to bring another run in and then
Caden Contant brought all the baserunners home, launching a pitcher over the wall in dead center for a grand slam to make it 6-4.Â
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The Yellow Jackets got one of those runs back in the top of the sixth, but Ryan Gallagher shut the door to halt any further damage. Snyder slid in from center field to the pitching mound in the eighth inning, throwing two shutout innings to preserve the lead. McNally added to Clarion's lead in the bottom of the eighth, hitting a two-run home run.Â
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Reilly Shafer earned his second straight pitching win, allowing four runs in five innings. The senior righthander struck out eight Yellow Jackets. Snyder picked up the save. McNally went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.Â
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Game 2: Jefferson 11, Clarion 1Â
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RECAP: The Rams jumped on the Golden Eagles in the second game, touching them up for six runs on six hits in the first two innings. Gabe Silva hit a two-run double in the bottom fo the first inning and later added a sacrifice fly in the second, as Jefferson took a 6-0 lead early in the game. He struck for his fourth RBI in the bottom of the fourth inning, hitting a single to right field to give his team a seven-run lead.Â
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Clarion did get on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning, starting with a leadoff double from Cole Yeager to get the ball rolling. Snyder hit a single to center field that brought Yeager home, cutting the deficit to 7-1. Â
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Jefferson tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to go up 11-1, and they stranded the Golden Eagles in scoring position in the top of the seventh to halt a potential scoring chance.
Randy Carlo led off with a single and eventually advanced to third on a single by Contant. The next two batters were retired, though, and the threat ended.Â
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