BUTLER, Pa. — The Golden Eagles baseball team earned a key doubleheader sweep to kick off the season series with IUP on Friday, taking a pair of games from the Crimson Hawks in a twinbill at Pullman Park. Clarion won the first game 3-2 on a walk off hit from
Tyson Gill and then followed up with an 11-1 victory in the nightcap.
Game 1: Clarion 3, IUP 2
In the first game,
Tyson Gill smacked an opposite-field RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning, bringing
Ethan McNally for the winning run. With the score tied at 2-2 in the seventh inning, McNally lined a single into right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Jon Fijalkowski. On a 2-2 count with McNally on second, Gill drilled a ball to deep left field, driving in McNally for the walk-off win.
The Crimson Hawks took an early lead in the third inning when David Kessler and Camden Rhude hit back-to-back solo home runs against starter
Zach Kelly, putting the visitors up 2–0. Kelly was otherwise outstanding, throwing 6.0 innings with seven strikeouts. The senior workhorse tossed 105 pitches to keep his bullpen down as long as possible, with
Will Dean throwing a scoreless seventh for the win.
Clarion responded in the sixth inning, tying the score and setting the stage for Gill's heroics. Gill and Zach Colangelo both singled to lead off the inning, and Gill later scored on a sacrifice fly by
Derek Smail.
Jacob Patterson's single up the middle of the infield brought in Colangelo, tying the game at 2–2 through six innings.
Gill led the Golden Eagles with two hits, including a double, while also driving in a run and scoring once. Patterson contributed offensively with two hits, an RBI, and a stolen base.
Game 2: Clarion 11, IUP 1
In the second game, Clarion finished off a doubleheader sweep over IUP, posting an 11-1 victory. IUP took an early lead in the first inning when Johnathan Simpson executed a sacrifice fly, bringing home Ricardo Aponte for a 1-0 advantage. Clarion's offense was quiet initially, ending the first inning with no runs scored.
In the third inning, the Golden Eagles responded, and from there the momentum never let up.
Tyson Gill walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Randy Carlo then hit a single to left center, driving in Gill.
Ethan Giangiulio grounded out to the right side of the infield, allowing Carlo to score, putting the Golden Eagles ahead 2-1 after three innings.
Clarion's momentum continued in the fifth inning, as Giangiulio hit a solo home run to start the scoring, crushing a ball over the fence in right field. A series of wild pitches allowed
Jacob Patterson and
Eduardo Zayas to score. Carlo capped the inning with a two-RBI single to left center, extending the lead to 8-1 after five innings.
In the sixth inning, Patterson homered over the fence in centerfield, adding another run for Clarion.
Elvin Robles singled, followed by
Ethan McNally's double, setting up
Jon Fijalkowski's sacrifice fly that brought Robles home. Gill's RBI single scored McNally, further increasing the lead to 11-1 after six innings.
Clarion maintained its lead through the seventh inning, securing an 11-1 victory over the Crimson Hawks.
Luke Pietrandrea delivered an outstanding performance for Clarion, pitching a complete game. He allowed only one earned run and four hits over 7.0 innings while striking out seven batters. Pietrandrea demonstrated control by throwing 63 strikes out of 94 pitches and walking just two hitters.
