Dan Clark belted a pair of home runs and
Ben Foose connected for a grand slam to lead the Mountain Cats to an 11-4 and 10-9 PSAC sweep over Clarion, Friday afternoon at Point Stadium. Pitt-Johnstown improved to 11-24 overall and 8-14 in the PSAC Western Division.
In game one, Foose belted a grand slam and Clark added a two-run homer in Pitt-Johnstown's 11-4 victory.
Clarion jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead, but Pitt-Johnstown responded with five in the bottom of the inning, including Foose's long grand slam over the left center field wall.
Clark's two-run homer in the Mountain Cats' second made it 7-2, until Clarion scored two in the sixth on Max Mari's RBI ground out and Cole Shaffer's RBI double.
However,
Nemo Trexler's two run single up the middle highlighted a four-run Pitt-Johnstown sixth inning and set the final at 11-4.
Along with Foose's grand slam and Clark's two-run home run, Pitt-Johnstown also got a hit and two RBI from Trexler, a triple from
Tyler Smith, and RBI from
Jack Shirk,
Scott Thompson, and
Mason Prickett.
Brady Walker started and improved to 2-4 after holding the Golden Eagles to four runs (3 earned) on seven hits over the first 5 1/3 innings. Walker also struck out nine and walked just one.
Nathan Bearer pitched the final 1 2/3 innings and held Clarion scoreless on three hits.
In the nightcap, Clark's solo home run in in the bottom of the fifth broke a 9-9 tie and lifted Pitt-Johnstown to the 10-9 win.
Two-run doubles by Bryce Jackson and Cole Jackson gave Clarion a quick 4-0 first inning lead.
Pitt-Johnstown came back with four in the bottom of the frame. Clark's double scored Trexler and Prickett's RBI ground out made it 4-3. Smith then followed with a two run single to knot it at four.
The Golden Eagles added a run in the top of the second, but
Scott Thompson's two-run double in the bottom of the frame gave the lead to the Mountain Cats.
Pitt-Johnstown scored two more in the third, but Clarion battled back to tie it at nine in the fifth.
Clark's one-home homer to left-center gave the lead back to the Mountain Cats in the bottom of the fifth and Foose and Brad Clark combined to hold the Golden Eagles scoreless the rest of the way.
Clark went 3-for-3 with a homer, a double and three RBI, while Trexler had three hits and drove in a run for the Mountain Cats.
Cameron Gerhard and Scot Lucas each had two hits, and Smith had three RBI.
Foose got the win in relief of starter
Trent Martin after holding Clarion to two runs on two hits in 2 2/3 innings. Coleman picked-up his first save of the season after pitching a scoreless seventh.
With the losses, Clarion fell to 9-31 overall and 2-20 in the PSAC West.
Pitt-Johnstown wraps-up the four-game PSAC series in Clarion on Sunday, before traveling to Bloomsburg for a non-conference game on Tuesday and to Mercyhurst for a conference doubleheader on Friday. The Mountain Cats will close out the 2018 season and celebrate Senior Day next Saturday against the Lakers at 1 and 3 p.m. at Point Stadium.
