CLARION, Pa. (April 25) – The Vulcans swept a doubleheader on the road against Clarion to conclude the regular season with scores of 8-2 and 5-2 on Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.
With the victories, Cal U finishes the regular season with an overall record of 24-20 while going 16-12 in league play. Clarion falls to 8-27 overall with the losses with a 6-22 conference record.
In Game 1, the Vulcans jumped out to an early lead when junior first baseman
David Marcus (Whitby, Ontario/Father Leo J. Austin) drew a walk with the bases loaded to make the score 1-0. The teams remained scoreless until the top of the third inning when junior left fielder
Jared Grove (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) singled and advanced to third on a throwing error from the right fielder, scoring two runs and giving the Vulcans a 3-0 advantage. The Golden Eagles would answer back in the bottom half of the inning on a wild pitch, cutting the lead to 3-1.
Cal U tacked on a couple more runs in the fourth inning with RBI singles from Marcus and senior shortstop
Matt Peters (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) to increase the lead to 5-1. Senior designated hitter
Kris Fielding (Port Perry, Ontario/Port Perry) added on another run with an RBI single of his own to give the Vulcans their sixth run. Clarion added another run in the sixth on an RBI single before redshirt freshman
Levi Krause (East Berlin, Pa./Spring Grove) brought in a run on a sacrifice fly and Fielding collected another RBI single to give the Vulcans an 8-2 lead. Junior
Mick Fennell (Butler, Pa./Butler) came in to pitch the seventh inning and struck out two Clarion hitters to secure the win.
Redshirt junior pitcher
GJ Senchak (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) tossed 6.0 innings for the Vulcans and earned the win (3-2) while striking out six, yielding two runs (one earned) and scattering six hits. Clarion starter Tyler Delval suffered the loss (3-5) after giving up six runs (five earned) and 11 hits in 6.0 innings pitched.
The Vulcans offense was led by Marcus and Fielding who each collected two RBI. Peters also finished 3-for-4 with an RBI.
In Game 2, Cal U erupted at the plate in the second inning starting with an RBI double from Grove to cross the first run. Freshman second baseman
Garrett Brooks (Connellsville, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) then collected another RBI double for the Vulcans before freshman catcher
Parker Lynn (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) brought in another run on a sacrifice fly to center field. Fennell then roped an RBI double down the right-field line to give Cal U a 4-0 lead after the inning.
Clarion answered back in the fourth inning for a couple of runs on an RBI single and an RBI double, to cut the deficit to 4-2 after four innings. Grove drove in his second run of the game in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to put the Vulcans out to a 5-2 lead.
Freshman pitcher
Carter Krick (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) started the game for the Vulcans but only pitched 3.1 innings before being replaced by sophomore
Alex Ziegler (Butler, Pa./Butler) in the fourth. Ziegler recorded the win (4-0) after pitching 1.2 innings, allowing only two hits and no runs. Sophomore
Joe Yourgal (Millersville, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) pitched the final 2.0 innings of the game, allowing only one hit to pick up his first save of the season. Golden Eagles starter Sean White suffered the loss (3-5), giving up five runs (all earned) and nine hits in 6.0 innings.
Cal was led offensively by Grove who tallied two RBI, while Fennell, Brooks and Lynn all added an RBI.
The Vulcans next game will be in the PSAC Tournament which begins on Wednesday, April 29, in Butler, Pennsylvania, at Kelly Automotive Park (formerly Pullman Park). Cal U will open play against Millersville, the top seed from the PSAC East, at 6:30 p.m.
