GREENSBURG, Pa. — A Casey Wilcox three-run home run helped fuel a game two 5-4 win and a split of a PSAC West doubleheader at Seton Hill on Sunday for the Clarion University softball team.
The Golden Eagles lost game one 7-2.
In the second game, Wilcox’s jack, her first of the season and second of her career, came in the top of the seventh inning and gave the Golden Eagles a 5-1 lead. Clarion then held off a furious comeback attempt by Seton Hill in the bottom of the seventh when Chelsea Zola was able to work out of a no-out, one-on jam by getting a line-drive double play and then worked around a two-out single by getting the final Griffin batter to pop out to second to give first-year head coach Cheryl Peterson her first conference victory.
Clarion trailed 1-0 going to the third but scored a pair of runs on a Seton HIll error off a ball hit by Taylor Powell. Wilcox then made it 5-1 with her two-out, three-run home run that brought in Kayla Henderson and Autumn Babcock, who had both singled.
Wilcox was 2-for-3 in the game with a run scored and three RBIs. Henderson also had two hits going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Christina Tressler was 2-for-3 with a double.
Paige Baker picked up the win, her first of the year, after pitching three innings of scoreless relief giving up six hits. Sarah Gossard started and gave up one run on five hits in three innings of work.
In game one, Clarion lost 7-2 scoring its lone runs in the sixth inning when Powell reached on an error that drove home Audrey Hummel and Megan Anderson making the score 6-2.
The Golden Eagles had six singles in the game with Anderson, Henderson, Powell, Ashley Hummel, Carra Stevens and Lydia Middaugh each getting base knocks.
Shawnna Crago took the loss giving up seven runs, just one earned, in six innings of work. She allowed five hits and two walks while striking out two but was hurt by two errors during a five-run third inning for Seton Hill.
With the split, Clarion is now 2-8 overall and 1-3 in the PSAC West, while Seton Hill drops to 10-4, 2-2.
The Golden Eagles are scheduled to be back in action Tuesday when they host IUP, but current field conditions aren’t looking good for that game to be played in Clarion. The team is also slated to host Mercyhurst and Gannon over the weekend field conditions permitting. Go to www.clariongoldeneagles.com for all the latest scheduling information.
