CLARION, Pa. (April 24, 2015) - The Edinboro softball team returned to the field for the first time since Sunday due to poor weather conditions throughout the week but responded with 16 runs on the day to defeat Clarion by scores of 7-0 and 9-7. The second victory was notable because it was the 400^th of Edinboro head coach Dan Gierlak's career. The Fighting Scots record improves to 19-10-1 overall and 11-8-1 in the PSAC while Clarion falls to 5-29 and 4-24 in conference.

Importantly for Edinboro the two victories keep them in the race for the PSAC Tournament. The four teams from each division with the most conference wins make the postseason. Edinboro is currently in fifth behind Indiana (Pa.) who has a 12-10 PSAC record and Slippery Rock trails the two with an 11-13 record. The Fighting Scots and Crimson Hawks are scheduled to play tomorrow in Edinboro and at IUP on Tuesday while The Rock comes to Edinboro on Monday.

GAME ONE: Edinboro 7, Clarion 0
The Fighting Scots took advantage of a plethora of errors by the Golden Eagles in the first contest. Clarion outhit Edinboro six to five but committed five errors in the field.

 

Edinboro jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Shelby Proctor brought two runners home with a single to left field. After Kalet Lenart retired the side in the bottom of the third inning, the Fighting Scots added another run in the top of the fourth inning. Theresa Fleckenstein reached on an error by the shortstop to lead off the inning and scored when MaryLouise Lindner reached on an error by the pitcher. Edinboro led 3-0 at the end of four frames.

Lenart allowed one hit in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings but did not allow a runner to advance past second base. The Scots more than doubled their lead in the top of the seventh inning. Kylie Mason was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and Laura Crooks followed with a double to left field. With Mason and Crooks in scoring position and one out, Haley Struebing doubled to left field to score Mason and Crooks. Brooke Callaghan then singled to center field to score Struebing and the Scots third baseman scored when Fleckenstein reached on an error by the centerfielder. Edinboro led 7-0 going into the bottom half of the final inning.

Abby Sotter came into the circle for Edinboro and delivered a one, two, three inning to finish the game.

Lenart earned the win and now stands at 6-3 this season. She allowed six hits, one walk, and struck out eight batters over six innings.

Paige Baker was credited with the loss for Clarion and is now 3-8. She allowed only one hit over six innings and just one of the three runs she allowed was earned. Baker walked five while striking out six.

GAME TWO: Edinboro 9, Clarion 7
Edinboro stormed out of the gates in the second game just to have to hold on to victory at the end.

The Fighting Scots carried over the momentum from the end of the last game with a triple by Mason to begin the game. Heather Tighe then scored Mason on a fielder's choice. After stealing second and advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Struebing, Tighe scored on an RBI single by Proctor. The Scots led 2-0.

Clarion tacked on an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning. Casey Wilcox reached on an error and scored when Christiana Tressler doubled to right field for the Golden Eagles first run of the day and trailed 2-1.

Edinboro added four runs in the top of the second inning. The first run scored was unearned as Mason was able to reach on an error by the third baseman that scored Fleckenstein who was on third base. Crooks reached on a fielder's choice that saw Jessica Hyland tagged out on the play and put Crooks and Mason in familiar territory standing on second and third base, respectively. Tighe doubled to right center as the two runners each touched home. Struebing then singled to right field to score Tighe as Edinboro led 6-1 after two innings.
The Golden Eagles began to chip away in the third inning. Taylor Powell single to centerfield with the bases loaded and two out to cut the deficit to 6-3.

Each team scored once in the fifth inning. The Scots run came from an RBI double by Fleckenstein to score Callaghan while Audrey Hummel scored in the bottom half of the frame on a play before Baker was thrown out after a Lydia Middaugh single. The Edinboro lead now stood at 7-4.

 

Mason scored for the third time in the second game in the top of the sixth inning. After reaching on a double, she scored when Taylor Payne was thrown out at first base. Clarion now trailed 8-4 but had its best inning of the day in the bottom of the sixth. The Golden Eagles scored three runs on four hits and three Edinboro errors. With Payne now pitching for the Fighting Scots, the first two batters reached on errors, one committed by Payne. One run scored after a single by Megan Anderson and error by the Scots on the same play. Ashley Barenchik then delivered an RBI single to third base which scored a run but also got Anderson out on a 5-4-6 play. Clarion cut into the Edinboro lead once more when Tressler singled to right field to score Barenchik.

Sam Weaver then came on in relief for Payne. She struck out the first batter she forced before forcing the final out to fly out to left field to escape any further damage. The Fighting Scots were now ahead just 8-7.

Fleckenstein added an insurance run with a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning, her sixth of the season to tie Struebing for the team lead. Leading 9-7, Weaver breezed through the bottom of the seventh inning with a one, two, three frame to earn her second save of the season.

Kerri Stevens started the game for Edinboro and lasted five innings. She gave up four runs, three earned, six hits, five walks, and had a career-high nine strikeouts.

Shawnna Crago pitched a complete game for Clarion. Seven of the nine runs she gave up were earned as she allowed ten hits, two walks, and struck out four. Crago is now 0-12 this season.

Mason finished the day hitting 2-for-6 with five runs scored, one walk, and a stolen base.

Crooks and Fleckenstein each added three runs of their own. The former batted 2-for-7 with one walk while the latter went 2-for-6 with the one home run, two RBI, and two walks.

Struebing extended her current hitting streak to six games with one hit in each contest. The junior first baseman scored once and delivered three RBI.