BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The Golden Eagles softball team saw their historic season come to a close on Thursday as they fell to Slippery Rock 8-3 in a PSAC Tournament game at Grand Slam Park. The Golden Eagles managed nine hits and one home run but stranded eight runners.
With the loss, Clarion was eliminated from the PSAC Tournament.
Slippery Rock's decisive fifth inning proved to be a turning point, as it capitalized on errors and timely hitting to score four runs, extending its lead to 7–1. A fielding error allowed the inning to continue, setting up a double by Alyssa Massucci and sacrifice flies from Grace Smith and Shaylyn Shall, each driving in unearned runs. Jordyn Pelles and Maddie Cavenaugh furthered the damage with consecutive RBI hits.
Clarion's offense found moments of potential, highlighted by
Emma Hipps's fifth-inning solo home run, cutting into the deficit. The senior righthanded pitcher smacked her first career college home run after coming up just short in the final two weeks of the season. Hipps took the first pitch she saw from Rachel Baker and deposited it over the fence in center field to cut the deficit to 7-1.
In the seventh,
Delanie Davison's two-run double provided a late spark, scoring
Emily Buchleitner and
Alexis Valencia, but the rally fell short. The Golden Eagles' inability to capitalize on earlier scoring opportunities and defensive lapses in the fifth inning proved costly in the end.
Rian Reed pitched the final 2.0 innings, allowing one run on one hit, while striking out two batters.
Delanie Davison delivered a strong performance with three doubles and two RBIs. Valencia added two hits and scored one run.
