Clarion University Baseball Finishes Off Season Sweep of IUP With Doubleheader Wins

Joanne Bauer

Joanne Bauer

Published May 3, 2021 4:20 am
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CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle baseball team finished off a four-game sweep of IUP on Sunday afternoon – their first such sweep in nearly a decade – by winning both ends of a doubleheader with the Crimson Hawks.

Clarion (11-18, 9-11 PSAC West) took two low-scoring contests, winning the first by a 1-0 score and the second by a 5-2 advantage. The Golden Eagles have won seven of their last 10 games.

The four-game sweep of a divisional opponent is the first time Clarion has turned the trick against one of their PSAC West rivals since the 2012 season. That year the Golden Eagles took four straight games from Lock Haven in early March.

Pitching dominated the proceedings, with Golden Eagle hurlers allowing just two runs over 14 innings of action on Sunday. Bryan Layton (2-3) threw six shutout innings in the opening game of the twinbill, making the slim 1-0 lead he was handed in the first inning stand up the rest of the way. He turned the ball over to Jeremy Frazier in the seventh inning, with the senior tossing a 1-2-3 inning for his second save of the season. Layton allowed just four hits and one walk in his six-inning start while also striking out five Crimson Hawks.

The only run he ended up needing came in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Matt Privette was hit with the first pitch of the game, and Alex Ficorilli followed with a hit that was extended for extra bases after an error in right field. Thomas Lavin lifted a fly ball to the deepest part of the park to score Privette on a sacrifice fly, scoring what turned out to be the only tally of the game for either side.

Layton’s and the defense provided a number of highlights, including a 5-4-3 double play to end the second inning. Layton’s toughest jam came in the sixth inning after Colin Williams opened the frame with a single. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and tagged up to move to third on a flyout by Chris Eisel. Layton then whiffed first baseman Nick Hess to end the threat. Frazier took the load in the seventh inning, whiffing Elijah Glass and then inducing Markus Cestra into a groundout to finish the game.

Trevor McGee (3-1) took the ball in the second game and promptly kept the parade of zeroes rolling, retiring the first 10 Crimson Hawks he faced. IUP didn’t have a baserunner until the top of the fourth inning, and were unable to push across any runs at all until scoring two in the top of the sixth. McGee allowed just two hits in his six innings with five strikeouts. He turned the ball over to Ben Mongelleuzzo in the ninth, and just as in the first game, the closer finished off a 1-2-3 inning for the save.

Clarion once again took advantage of IUP miscues, this time scoring twice in the second. Danny Fox led off by being hit by a pitch, and Daren Byers drew a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. Tim Irons bunted the two over, leading to a sac fly by Emerson Abromavage. Byers later scored on Christian Kubacka’s infield single, taking advantage of an error to cross home and make it 2-0. Byers and Irons scored on a bases-loaded sequence in the fourth inning, with Byers scoring on a wild pitch and Irons taking advantage of a throwing error by Jake Cherry to make it 4-0. Fox added an RBI single in the fifth inning for the final run of the game for Clarion.

IUP finally struck in the sixth inning, with Cestra lining a two-run single to right field to score Eisel and Austin Mueller. Kubacka kept any further damage from occurring in the next at-bat, though, sniping Cestra at second base on a steal attempt to end the inning.

Submitted by Sean Fagan, Sports Information Director, Clarion University

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