INDIANA, Pa. — The Golden Eagle softball team kicked off the final week of the regular season with a doubleheader split on Tuesday afternoon, going on the road and taking one of two games from IUP.
Clarion lost the first game 10-2 in six innings but rebounded to take the late game by a 6-4 score.
Game 1: IUP 10, Clarion 2 (6 inn.)
The final score belied the action for the most part, as IUP held only a 4-2 advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. Four of those six runs game in the second inning, starting with Clarion’s first tally of the contest.
Haylie Rimmey hit her second home run of the season, hitting a two-out solo shot over the fence in left-center field.
That gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead, but the Crimson Hawks responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the second to take the lead for good. Jordan Sylvia hit an RBI single to tie the game after Delaney Patella’s leadoff double, and Kelly Szolek and Maddie Griffin added RBIs later in the inning to set the score at 3-1.
Both team’s pitchers settled into a bit of a groove at that point, though Patella drove in another run for IUP in the fifth inning on a single by Patella. Clarion got that run back in the top of the sixth when Rachel Helsley continued her two-week hot streak with another big hit.
Annika Smith led off with an infield single and Helsley brought her home with two outs, drilling a two-out triple to deep center field to make it 4-2.
Things went awry for Clarion in the bottom of the sixth, as IUP exploded for six runs on five hits and ultimately ended the game. Szolek made it a 5-2 lead for the Crimson Hawks on a on a fielder’s choice, and Griffin helped two runs come across with a single through the left side. Jaycee Haidze wrapped the game with a three-run home run, depositing a ball over the center field fence to make it 10-2.
Game 2: Clarion 6, IUP 4
The Golden Eagles evened the action on the day in the second game, taking the lead early on and never relinquishing it back to the Crimson Hawks.
Taylor Eckles earned the first win of her college career, throwing a complete game and allowing just four runs while striking out five batters.
Smith and Helsley provided the pop to give the Golden Eagles the lead, doing it in the top of the third inning. Smith was first, hitting an opposite-field home run over the fence in right to make it 1-0, and Helsley continued her torrid pace with a two-out, two-run homer run to center field that made it a 3-0 advantage for Clarion. IUP countered with two runs in the bottom of the third, but the Golden Eagles weren’t done, tacking on another run in the fourth. Rimmey hit her second total home run of the day and third of the season, pulling one over the fence to make it 4-2.
Tess Smiley hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 4-3, but Eckles prevented any further damage in the inning when she induced a grounder with two outs. She benefitted from a double play in the bottom of the fifth, when Griffin hit a hard liner directly at Tori Martrano at third base. Martrano snagged the ball and immediately snapped a throw to Desi Allen at first, getting Madison Pikula for the final out.
Clarion scored two key insurance runs in the sixth inning, doing it all with two outs. Allen hit a two-out single down the left field line, and Hannah Powierza’s single to center field was mishandled to allow her and Allen to advance to scoring position. Smith made the Crimson Hawks pay with a single up the middle, driving in a pair of runs to make it 6-3.
IUP scored once in the sixth to cut the lead to two runs, but Eckles twirled a scoreless seventh for the win.
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