CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles baseball team split a home doubleheader as well as the season series with Slippery Rock on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-2 in the opening game before winning 5-4 in 12 innings in the late game after a lengthy rain delay.
 
A handful of Clarion career records were set on Saturday, with Reilly Shafer and Caden Contant both etching their names on significant career marks. Shafer became the program's all-time leader in innings pitched and strikeouts, reaching 223.0 and 210, respectively, in those categories. Meanwhile, Caden Contant became the program's all-time leader in games started with 177.
 
Game 1: Slippery Rock 5, Clarion 3
RECAP: Slippery Rock took an early lead in the first game of the day, with Clarion chipping away at several occasions but never pushing all the way over the top for the win. Cam Panyko-Morris drilled a two-run single up the middle of the infield in the top of the second inning and Andrew Frye added an RBI double later in the frame to give the Rock a lead they never relinquished.
 
The Golden Eagles were not deterred though, cutting away at the lead with a pair of solo home runs. Randy Carlo hit his eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning and Contant led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run, reducing the deficit to 3-2. Michael Kitko bumped the lead to 4-2 with an RBI single to left field in the fifth inning but Carlo struck again in the bottom of the frame, hitting an opposite-field single to make it 4-3.
 
Luke Anderton gave the Rock a bit of insurance in the top of the seventh inning, hitting a leadoff double and eventually scoring on a wild pitch to make it 5-3. Clarion was retired in order in the home half of the inning.
 
Carlo and Contant both recorded two hits in the game, with Carlo driving in two runs and Contant one. Braden Fetherolf got the start and allowed four runs in five innings.
 
Game 2: Clarion 5, Slippery Rock 4 (12 inn.)
RECAP: The marathon second game saw the teams combine for five runs in the first three innings before giving away to a string of zeroes, with Clarion lead 3-2 after the bottom of the third inning.
 
Brody Hinkle got the scoring rolling in the bottom of the second inning, hitting an RBI single to score Contant. Ethan Giangiulio and Randy Carlo strung together back-to-back RBI singles in the bottom of the third, giving the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead.
 
Reilly Shafer kept that advantage up into the seventh inning, breaking the program's strikeout record in the process, and the senior got the first two outs of the seventh frame before Stone Powell's RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. Relief pitcher Aiden Hartle took the ball and got the final out of the inning, kicking off what turned out to be 5.1 innings of one-run relief and the win.
 
Slippery Rock took a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth on an RBI double by Gage Gillott, but Doran Mast responded with a clutch two-out RBI single through the left side of the infield to plate Carlo and tie the game. Those would be the last runs for either side until the bottom of the 12^th inning.
 
Hartle helped preserve the lead with an exceptional defensive play in the top of the 12^th inning, after hitting Powell with a pitch to lead off the inning. Clay Wiesen popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt and Hartle made a diving catch in front of the pitcher's mound, and then leaped up to double off Powell at first. He induced Panyko-Morris into a fly ball to right to end the inning, giving Clarion the chance to walk it off.
 
Walk it off they did. Contant drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Hinkle finished the game with a single to left field that brought Contant around from second base to close the 5-4 victory.
  Read Full Article