EDINBORO, Pa. — Pitcher Emma Hipps became the first pitcher in program history to win 10 games in a season, and also set a new program record for career pitching wins, as the Golden Eagle softball team picked up a road split with Edinboro on Sunday afternoon.
With the split, Clarion wins the season series with the Fighting Scots, taking three of the four games played this year.
Clarion won the first game of the day, a 16-1 rout that lasted just five innings. Edinboro won the second, beating the Golden Eagles 7-6.
Hipps earned the 19th pitching win over her career, breaking a tie she held with Diana Whitesides that had stood since 2000. With her 10th win of the season, she surpassed her own wins total from 2023, as well as the nine wins recorded by April Shannon in 2004.
Game 1: Clarion 16, Edinboro 1 (5 inn.)
Rachel Helsley led a Golden Eagle offensive explosion, driving in six runs—tied for the second-most for a single game in program history—as Clarion crushed 18 hits and took advantage of six Fighting Scots errors. She went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three runs scored, making her one of seven Golden Eagle players to notch multiple hits in the first game.
Hipps, meanwhile, was equally effective in the pitching circle. She allowed just five hits and one run in the complete game win, striking out seven Fighting Scots and allowing just one walk.
The majority of the damage done by the Golden Eagles came in the first inning, with Clarion quickly jumping out to a 9-0 lead. Helsley dealt the first blow of that attack, hitting her first home run of the day over the left field fence to give Clarion a 2-0 advantage. Back-to-back errors at shortstop put the next two Golden Eagles aboard and Clarion took advantage, with Desi Allen and Billie Aguglia rapping consecutive RBI singles to make it 4-0.
Annika Smith brought them all home with an opposite-field home run, driving the ball over the fence in right field to make it 7-0.
Clarion was not done in the first inning. Another couple of errors allowed the Golden Eagles to stay at the plate, with Emily Buchleitner scoring on a throwing error at shortstop.
Tori Martrano closed the first inning, scoring with an RBI double, hitting a ball to the gap in left center to score Alexis Valencia.
Now, with a secure lead, the Golden Eagles tacked on another three runs in the top of the second. Clarion loaded the bases with one out, and Valencia drove in the first run with a two-out single to make it 10. Helsley struck again before the inning was through, pulling a two-run single into left field to give her team a 12-0 advantage. The senior outfielder added another two-run home run in the top of the fourth to make it 14-1, and Kathryn O’Horo and Allen added RBIs.
Game 2: Edinboro 7, Clarion 6
The Golden Eagles rallied from a handful of deficits in the second game, coming back from scores of 3-0, 5-3 and 6-5 to keep the pressure on the Fighting Scots throughout. Clarion was the team hampered by errors in the second game, committing five and leading to four unearned runs.
Emily Buchleitner came up just a home run shy of a cycle, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Her first hit of the day came in the top of the second inning and was part of a three-run outburst that tied the game early on.
Billie Aguglia drove in a run with a squeeze bunt to start the scoring, bringing O’Horo home from third, and Buchleitner drilled a two-run double to deep center field to make it 3-3.
The Fighting Scots went back ahead in the bottom of the second, with Stephanie Krick hitting an RBI double and later scoring on a throwing error by O’Horo. Clarion evened things up again in the top of the fourth inning, with Buchleitner scoring Desi Allen on an RBI single and Valencia driving home Annika Smith on a grounder to first base.
Buchleitner put a cap on her big day in the sixth inning, hitting a one out RBI triple to score Jordy Best and make it a 6-6 game.
Another fielding error by Clarion in the sixth inning allowed the Fighting Scots to score the winning run, and Edinboro held the Golden Eagles scoreless in the seventh to hold on for the win.
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
