INDIANA, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles softball team kicked off PSAC West play with a road split against IUP on Tuesday, falling 8-7 in the opening game against the Crimson Hawks before beating them 12-9 in the late game.
 
Game 1: IUP 8, Clarion 7
 
RECAP: The Golden Eagles nearly erased deficits of 6-0 and 8-2, scoring two runs in the third through fifth innings and another in the sixth inning to affect their comeback. The Crimson Hawks exploded for six run in the first two innings, including a two-run home run by Delaney Patella and a three-run homer by Jordan Sylvia, and tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third inning.
 
That was all IUP would do at the dish for the rest of the game, though, and the Golden Eagles chipped away at that lead over the ensuing couple of innings. Clarion's first runs came in the top of the third inning, when Annika Smith scored an on error by Sylvia at first base, and Alexis Valencia swatted an opposite-field single to bring Malina Serrano home.
 
In the top of the fourth, the Golden Eagles made the Crimson Hawks pay for a free pass to lead off the inning. Haylie Rimmey reached on a walk and Kathryn O'Horo followed with a two-run homer to cut the deficit in half at 8-4. Rimmey returned the favor in the top of the fifth inning, smacking a two-out two-run home run to plate Delanie Davison and make it 8-6.
 
Clarion kept working toward evening the score in the top of the sixth, again scoring with two outs in the inning. Valencia hit a two-out single to left to keep the inning alive and Jordy Best drove an opposite field double to right field, scoring her to make it 8-7. Davison walked to lead off the seventh inning, potentially putting the Golden Eagles in position to tie the game, but Desi Allen hit into a double play and pinch runner Brooke Dobson was caught stealing with two outs to end the game.
 
Game 2: Clarion 12, IUP 9
 
RECAP: Both teams slugged away early in the late game, but the Golden Eagles were the ones to turn the bats on late and clinch the conference win. Clarion's five run first inning came in part because of a pair of Crimson Hawk errors, with four of those tallies unearned. Emily Buchleitner plated the first run of the game with an RBI single to right field that scored Valencia.
 
Where things broke open was with two outs in the inning. Rimmey lifted a fly ball to right center that was dropped by Paige Truax, allowing Davison and Buchleitner to score and give the Golden Eagles a 3-0 lead. O'Horo followed with her second home run of the day, driving a ball over the fence to give her team a 5-0 advantage.
 
The Crimson Hawks scored three runs each in the first and second innings, and then added one apiece in the third and fourth to go ahead 8-5 after four full innings of play. Clarion rallied for a pair of huge innings, starting with a three-run sixth that also saw a crucial IUP error. O'Horo hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 8-6, and a misplay at second base on Valencia's ground ball to the right side allowed O'Horo and Serrano to tie the game.
 
The Golden Eagles still trailed 9-8 in the top of the seventh inning before yet another big fly, this one off the bat of Allen. Buchleitner led off the inning with a walk and Allen drove the ball over the fence with one out to put the Golden Eagles ahead 10-9. Annika Smith and Brooke Dobson plated insurance runs with back-to-back RBI hits, and Emma Hipps threw a scoreless seventh to cap a two-inning save.
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