Sports

Golden Eagles baseball earn conference splits

Coach Mike Brown and the Clarion Golden Eagles baseball team battled against the elements to pull out three wins over the course of April 14 through the 18.

The team played three separate doubleheaders against Gannon University and California University of Pennsylvania.

The Golden Eagles split each doubleheader with one win and one loss.

In game one on Thursday, April 14, Clarion faced off against Gannon.

Offense would be the name of the game for Clarion, as their hitters were able to convert six hits into four runs.

Junior Josh Beimel and junior Matt Rossi added two hits apiece to the grand total.

The duo was responsible for three out of the team’s four runs for the game.

Clarion freshman pitcher Pat Golden secured his first win of the season at Gannon in game one, putting in 5.1 innings of starting work.

While Golden gave up six hits to the Gannon offense, he allowed only two runners to cross the plate.

Pitching duties were passed on to senior Eric Panko, who threw for a mere 1.2 innings to grab his second save of the season.

Clarion’s success in game one quickly turned around when Gannon made a comeback and won game two of the doubleheader by a score of 3-0.

The Golden Eagle offense knocked seven hits throughout the game, but failed to turn any of those into runs.

Gannon’s Paul McKenna pitched for all seven innings, and struck out four batters without allowing a walk.

On Friday, April 15, Clarion faced off against Gannon again.

This time they would be playing a doubleheader at Jerry Uht’s Park, home of the Erie Seawolves.

The Golden Eagles dropped game one of the series to Gannon, 6-3. Freshman pitcher Mike Dunn lasted four innings for Clarion, and ceded nine hits, responsible for all six of
Gannon’s runs.

Clarion sophomore Jon Roncolato punched out two hits in three at-bats.

He attributed to the Golden Eagles’ seven hits.

However, these weren’t enough to secure a win.

Clarion would once again split a doubleheader by turning things around and winning game two on the day.

This time around, pitching served as the catalyst for Clarion’s success.

Panko pitched a complete game for Clarion, and struck out an impressive seven batters.

He also forced the Gannon hitters to pop-up for outs eight times.

Clarion’s hitters managed only three hits during game two, but that was enough to win.

They converted two of those hits into runs, thanks to RBIs from Rossi and junior Eric Grejda.

Game two ended with a boost in moral for Clarion.

They won the game by a score of 2-1.

Clarion returned to action on Monday, April 18, at Pullman Park in Butler County; a neutral ground site for a doubleheader against CalU.

Clarion fell in game one by a margin of 8-0, due mostly in part to a top of the fifth inning offensive outburst by the California Vulcans.

Four runs crossed the plate, due to four hits and one Clarion defensive error.

The Golden Eagles won game two by 5-1, capping off a string of doubleheaders with success. Junior Scott Berkes, 3-1 on the year for Clarion, pitched a complete game.

CalU managed only five hits against Berkes, and turned over only a single run.

Sophomore right fielder Bill Hasson led the Clarion offense with two hits. Beimel, Berkes, Grejda, Roncolato, Rossi and senior Dane Dobson all added to the Golden Eagles’ total of
eight hits on the game.

The Golden Eagles, with a record of 8-21, look to finish up the season with a string of wins against Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Lock Haven University.