CLARION, Pa. --- A rollercoaster doubleheader at Memorial Stadium saw the Golden Eagles softball team fall in five innings in the first game before staging an improbable comeback in the second, as Clarion split a twinbill with Slippery Rock at home. The first game was a 10-1 win for the Rock but the second was a 13-9 Golden Eagle victory, with Clarion scoring 12 unanswered runs from the fifth inning on to erase a 9-1 deficit.
 
Game 1: Slippery Rock 10, Clarion 1 (5 inn.)
 
RECAP: The Rock blew the game open with a six-run third inning that included two home runs, including a three-run shot by Emma Kennedy over the fence in left field and a solo homer by Julia Nutter to deep center field. That gave Slippery Rock an 8-0 advantage, and they maintained that eight-run edge through the end of the fifth inning to trigger the end of the game.
 
The Golden Eagles' highlight came in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Delanie Davison led off with a triple to deep right field. Desi Allen wasted no time in bringing her home, hitting a grounder to shortstop and beating the throw for an RBI infield single. Haylie Rimmey followed with a single up the middle and a passed ball put runners on second and third with no outs. Pitcher Alexsa Hurd settled in and escaped the jam, striking out three straight batters to end the inning.
 
Clarion loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning in an attempt to extend the game, starting with a leadoff single from Alexis Valencia and a walk from Jordy Best. Allen drew a two-out talk to load the bases but Hurd struck out the final batter of the game for the win.
 
Game 2: Clarion 13, Slippery Rock 9
 
RECAP: The second game of the day looked like it was shaping up to be a similar result, but the Golden Eagles put a halt to that with an offensive explosion, capped with a walk-off grand slam by Emily Buchleitner.
 
The junior shortstop – now just three hits shy of the program record set by Carlie Cook in 2011 – came to the dish with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the score tied at 9. Facing a 3-2 count and with raindrops all around, Buchleitner launched an Alexsa Hurd pitch over the fence in left center field for the win.
 
It took a whale of an effort to even put Buchleitner in position to win the game, as the Golden Eagles had to overcome a 9-1 deficit in the fifth inning just to have a chance. The first bits of chipping away the lead came when Alexis Valencia hit a one-out single and scored on Best's triple to right field, and the latter came across on a wild pitch to cut the game to 9-3.
 
After a scoreless inning of work from Angelina Pepe in the top of the sixth, the Golden Eagles took advantage of Slippery Rock wildness to score six runs on just one hit. Clarion reached base on walks eight times in the bottom of the sixth, including three walks with the bases loaded to score runs. The one hit was a big one though, with Best smacking her second triple of the game to clear the bases loaded, making her one of only three players in school history to record two triples in a game. That cut the deficit to 9-8, and Allen walked with the bases loaded to tie the game.
 
Pepe kept things competitive with a 1-2-3 seventh inning, setting up the late game heroics for Buchleitner. The former threw 3.2 innings of relief, allowing just one run in the process.
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