CLARION, Pa. — The Golden Eagle baseball team earned a doubleheader split at home on Thursday afternoon, with Clarion taking the second half of the twinbill with IUP at Memorial Stadium.
The Crimson Hawks won the first game in a 16-2 rout, but the Golden Eagles responded with a 5-3 win in the second.
A piece of Golden Eagle history occurred in the second game as Scotty McManamon clubbed the 20th home run of his career, tying Matt Rossi for the most career home runs in program history.
The record-tying clout came in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring Kasey Shughart and giving the Golden Eagles a 5-0 lead.
Game 1: IUP 16, Clarion 2
The first game of the day was a runaway win for the Crimson Hawks, who logged 15 hits and took advantage of 10 free passes en route to their 16-run output. IUP opened the proceedings with a six-run first inning that included a two-run bomb from Elijah Dunn, and they consistently tacked on runs well into the fifth inning.
The Golden Eagle offense finally broke through against starter Mark Edeburn in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Griffin Snyder belted a one-out double to deep left-center to get on base and advanced to third on Alfredo Hurtado’s slow chopper to the pitcher. Connor Booth followed up with a short ground ball to third base, but Peyton Johnson could not handle the slow roller cleanly and Snyder came around to score.
Clarion manufactured one more run in the bottom of the seventh, starting with a leadoff double from Ethan Giangiulio to right field. Sam Felner advanced him to third with a groundout, and pinch runner Tyler Meachum scored on a sacrifice fly to foul territory in left field, beating a throw to the plate for the tally.
IUP starter Mark Edeburn was otherwise spectacular against the Golden Eagles, striking out five and walking none in the complete game effort. The Crimson Hawks boasted five extra-base hits and stole three bases against Golden Eagle pitchers.
Game 2: Clarion 5, IUP 3
Conversely, the second game of the day featured an outstanding starting pitching effort for Clarion, with Reilly Shafer taming the Crimson Hawk lineup for all but a brief spell in the fifth inning.
The senior hurler retired the first 11 batters he faced and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, when Zach Miller lined a two-out single to center field.
Shafer tossed a complete game, allowing three hits and three runs while striking out six batters. He went through the Crimson Hawk lineup in just 98 pitches.
The Clarion offense was able to provide him an ample cushion as well, starting in the bottom of the first inning. Shughart and McManamon hit back-to-back singles to lead off the game, and Snyder followed up with a double down the left field line to score Shughart and make it 1-0. Two more runs came across in the bottom of the second inning, this time with Daren Byers kicking things off. The senior laced a one-out double to left-center, and Tyson Gill by ripping a single past the shortstop into shallow left field.
Byers kept a full head of steam heading around third base and beat the throw home to make it 2-0, while Gill slid into second to put another runner in scoring position. He scored on McManamon’s opposite-field single to right, making it 3-0.
McManamon contributed two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, following Shughart’s leadoff single with a two-run shot to tie the program’s career home run record. That blast gave the Golden Eagles a 3-0 lead, though the Crimson Hawks responded with three runs in the top of the fifth inning to keep themselves in the contest.
Shafer resumed control from that point, allowing just one more hit the rest of the way. Facing the Crimson Hawks in the top of the seventh inning, he retired Peyton Johnson and Zach Miller by swinging strikeout to wrap up the game and the win.
McManamon finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored, while Shughart went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
