Pride clinch series win with final day split at William Penn

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - Looking to start Heart of America Athletic Conference play with four-straight series wins, the Clarke University baseball team accomplished just that with a doubleheader split on Tuesday to clinch three out of four wins against William Penn University.

In both games, the losing team was only able to manage just two runs as CU took a 8-2 win in Tuesday's opener with the Statesmen earning a 4-2 win in the series finale. In WPU's win, they pulled ahead 1-0 after the first inning then added on with a three-run third inning off of starter Johnny Blake giving them enough cushion to hold off a Pride come back as they pushed across runs in the fourth and sixth innings.

The opening game of the day saw the Pride jump out to a 2-0 lead on a Greg Bennett two-RBI single in the second inning before William Penn was able to tie the game with runs scored in both the bottom of the second and third innings.

It would be all Clarke from that point on starting with a Nicholas Prater two-run home run in the fourth to regain the lead as Bennett added another RBI on an infield single in the sixth. CU would add on in the seventh inning to provide some cushion on a Victor Lara solo home run before Maguire Fitzgerald capped off a three-hit game with a two-RBI single to push the lead to 8-2.

Jake Fiortio was able to continue to strong starting pitching performances with his game three outing as he went five innings allowing the two runs on just five hits with three walks and three strikeouts to move his record to 3-1 on the season. Brendan Boily and Nolan Lamere would provide strong relief in the the sixth and seventh innings as Lamere would pick up his first save of the season as he entered at the 5-2 CU lead in the bottom of the sixth.

Clarke baseball will have a quick turnaround for a mid-week non-conference doubleheader at Waldorf University on Wednesday in Forest City, Iowa for a 1:00 p.m. CT first pitch for game one.