DUBOIS, Pa. --- It was a wild, high scoring game that featured lead changes and tense moments, but the Golden Eagles baseball team came up just a hair short in falling 15-13 to Fairmont State at Stern Field in DuBois. Â
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The teams combined for 26 total hits and 16 walks over the course of nine innings, with Clarion benefiting largely from the home run ball. The Golden Eagles combined for three home runs on the day, two by
Randy Carlo and one by
Jack Hurda.
Ethan Giangiulio, meanwhile, went 3-for-4 at the dish with two doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs.Â
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Carlo's first home run came in the bottom of the second inning, cutting the Falcons' lead in half at 2-1. That blast led off that inning, and his second put a capper on a four-run showing in the bottom of the third. After Giangiulio pulled a double through the right side to score
Tyson Gill and Hurda, making it 3-2, Carlo deposited a ball over the fence in left center field, giving the Golden Eagles a 5-2 advantage. Hurda hit a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning.Â
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The top of the fifth proved to be a backbreaker for Clarion, as the Falcons scored nine runs on six hits and sent 14 men to the plate. Fairmont State took an 11-6 lead at the end of that frame but the Golden Eagles prepared their own counterpunch.
Caden Contant scored a runner from third with a grounder in the fifth inning, and Gill drove in a run in the sixth inning.
Griffin Snyder scored from third on a wild pitch later in the sixth to cut the lead to 11-9, but the Falcons scored three runs in the seventh inning to pad their lead.Â
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Giangiulio and Cole Yeager smacked RBI singles in the bottom of the eighth, with the latter scoring two runs with the bases load to make it 14-12. Despite another run in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Golden Eagles were unable to erase the deficit entirely.Â
