BUTLER, Pa. — Clarion baseball faced Slippery Rock in a doubleheader on Friday, suffering defeats in both contests, with scores of 2-0 and 7-2 at Pullman Park. Between games, the Golden Eagles honored their senior class with their 2026 Senior Day recognition.
Game 1: Slippery Rock 2, Clarion 0
The first game was a tense matchup and a pitchers' duel between
Zach Kelly and Gage Gillott, with neither pitcher conceding a run through the first five innings. Clarion managed seven hits and drew four walks but left ten runners on base in the loss.
Derek Smail provided a single in the second, but Clarion left two runners stranded.
The game remained tied at zero until the sixth inning, when Slippery Rock broke the deadlock. Aari Fox, pinch running after a Jake Robinson single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a hit by Stone Powell that resulted in an error. Treston Nemeth then singled to drive in Powell, giving The Rock a 2–0 lead.
Despite a response from Clarion with
Ethan Giangiulio reaching base with a single, the team could not bring runners home. The score remained 2–0 in favor of Slippery Rock after six innings.
In the seventh, Clarion's
Brayden Foster singled and was replaced by pinch runner
Robert McCullough, who advanced to third on a subsequent single by Zach Colangelo. However, the Golden Eagles ended the inning without scoring, finalizing the game at 2-0 in favor of The Rock.
Zach Kelly pitched for 5.0 innings, allowing eight hits and two earned runs while walking two batters and striking out two. He threw a total of 82 pitches, 50 of which were strikes.
Will Dean came in as a relief pitcher, delivering 2.0 innings with only one hit allowed and recording 2 strikeouts.
Tyson Gill contributed by stealing one base and drawing one walk.
Ethan McNally recorded a hit and successfully executed a sacrifice bunt, adding to his team's efforts at the plate.
Game 2: Slippery Rock 7, Clarion 2
The second game saw Clarion fall to Slippery Rock in a 7–2 defeat, despite a late rally with runs in the fifth and seventh innings.
The Rock opened the scoring in the second inning when Clay Wiesen tripled to center field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Landon Hamer, putting The Rock ahead 1–0 through two innings. In the fourth inning, The Rock extended its lead. Treston Nemeth singled and advanced to third on Michael Kitko's single, then scored on another sacrifice fly by Wiesen, making the score 2–0 through four innings.
Clarion responded in the fifth inning when
Jacob Patterson reached on a throwing error and advanced to third on
Wyatt Fether's single. Patterson then scored on a bases-loaded walk drawn by
Tyson Gill, cutting the deficit to 2–1 after five innings.
However, The Rock took control in the seventh inning with a five-run outburst. Hamer hit a solo home run, followed by a two-RBI double from Nemeth and an RBI single by Kitko. A wild pitch allowed another run to score, pushing The Rock's lead to 7–1.
The Golden Eagles added one more run in the bottom of the seventh when
Ethan Giangiulio doubled to center field, bringing home
Wyatt Fether.
Luke Pietrandrea pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits while throwing a total of 86 pitches, 56 of which were strikes.
Tyson Gill drew two walks and contributed one RBI in his performance.
Wyatt Fether scored one run and added a hit during the game.
Jon Fijalkowski reached base with a hit and a walk, while also stealing one base.
