Sports
Golden Eagles baseball lose three out of four to IUP
Senior Eric Panco leads the team this year with two saves and also has one win on the season and a 10.12 ERA. (Archive Photo / The Clarion Call)
As the Clarion University baseball season draws to a close, the Golden Eagles are still hard at work.
The team pulled off one win in four games played on Thursday April 21, and Tuesday, April 26.
Clarion faced off against the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks in two doubleheaders.
In game one on Thursday, junior designated hitter Eric Grejda led the Clarion offense with two hits.
Freshman Mike Dunn allowed 10 hits and five runs through his 4.1 innings of work.
IUP kept up a steady balance of offensive production throughout game one.
Four Crimson Hawks punched out two hits each, combining for a team total of 11.
Clarion lost game one by a score of 5-3, dropping their record to 8-25.
Clarion made for a better contest in game two.
Junior Scott Berkes and senior Dane Dobson led the attack with two hits each.
Junior Jerico Weitzel and junior Josh Beimel were responsible for both of the team’s RBIs.
The Golden Eagles brought all three of their runs across the plate in the top of the second inning.
Grejda started off the rally by taking a walk, and later scored due to an IUP defensive error. IUP remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning.
IUP scored three runs off only two hits. The game remained tied into the last innings. In the top of the seventh inning, Clarion managed to produce only one hit.
That proved to be too little to keep up with the hot IUP offense. They scored the winning run in the bottom of the inning to snare the win by a score of 4-3.
Senior Eric Panko was handed the loss, after pitching only one inning. Freshman Pat Golden put in a quality performance for Clarion. He served 5.2 innings and refused to give up
a run until the bottom of the sixth inning. Clarion and IUP again faced off in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 26.
Clarion won game one by score of 4-1. Five different Clarion batters provided the hits necessary to propel their team toward the win.
Junior Matt Rossi and Dobson batted in two runs each. Clarion junior Brandon Slater pitched a complete game.
He allowed a meager one hit and one run through his seven innings of work, making for his best performance of the year.
Clarion got out to an early offensive start, when they batted in a run in the bottom of the second inning.
That was followed by a two-run streak in the bottom of the third inning.
Clarion would end the day on a low note, with a loss in game two, 12-1.
A tremendous offensive push by IUP in the top of the fifth inning prohibited Clarion from forming any kind of a comeback.
Weitzel provided the offensive highlights for the team, with two singles to the outfield.
“Coming to a close here with a season is an exciting time for a number of reasons. The season is long and grueling, and with the weather the way it has been this year it seems
even longer,” junior Ken Morgan said.
Clarion’s season will come to a close with two back-to-back doubleheaders against Lock Haven on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30.
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