AUBURNDALE, Fla.—Gordon Baseball fell one run short of a seventh-inning rally in game two of a doubleheader with Clark University as the Fighting Scots split with the Cougars on Thursday afternoon. The bats stayed hot in game one and the Fighting Scots won going away, 9-3. Clark earned the split by winning a pitcher's duel, 3-2, in game two.
 
Gordon stays at .500 with a 4-4 record. Clark also stays even at 5-5. The Fighting Scots finish their Florida trip tomorrow with two games against Beloit beginning at 9 a.m. The Cougars end their trip with a doubleheader against Muskingum at 9:15.
 
Game One: Gordon 9 – 3 Clark
 
The Fighting Scots came into the game hitting well over .300 as a team and Clark was unable to slow down the Gordon offense in game one. Addison Tarr (Oxnard, Calif.) led off the game with a single to center, while both Dean Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.) and Alex Smith (Wethersfield, Conn.) were hit by pitches to load the bases. Jeremy Jackson (Waco, Texas) hit a flare to center to score Tarr for the first run of the game. Gordon crossed another run on a double play before Ryan Paulsen (Latham, N.Y.) gave the Scots a 3-0 lead with another RBI knock before the end of the first.
 
The Cougars bounced back for one run in the bottom half of the inning. Kyle Bonicki (Waterbury, Conn.) walked with one out and James Conway (Newburyport, Mass.) ushered him home with a double to the corner in right.
 
Gordon put another run on the board in the top of the third as Matt Moffat (Stratford, Conn.) and Travis Benoit (Worcester, Mass.) led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Christian Hodge (Waltham, Mass.) hit a double to the gap in right center to easily score Moffat, but Benoit was thrown out at home on an overrun.
 
Clark came right back to close the gap to one run in the bottom half after a Gordon error extended the inning. A single by David Eschen (New York, N.Y.) was the catalyst behind advancing the inning and allowing the Cougars to pin two on the board.
 
Gordon more than doubled their offensive output in the sixth inning, scoring five runs with two outs. Two of the first three Gordon batters were called out with a Tarr double sandwiched in between. Demers stayed hot with a single through the right side to easily score Gordon's leadoff hitter.
 
Jackson doubled down the line in left to put runners on second and third, which gave Moffat a chance to knock in two runs with a single to the gap in right. Gordon scored twice more in the inning on a double by Benoit and a triple by Paulsen.
 
Matt Amore (Pequannock, N.J.) pitched six strong innings for the Scots, holding the Cougars to four hits and only one earned run out of three scored. The junior starter also struck out nine batters. Conor Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.) took the loss while giving up seven runs on 12 hits.
 
Game Two: Clark 3 – 2 Gordon
 
Freshmen pitchers Mike Tice (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Derek Hudson (Hudson, N.H.) duked it out with 13 combined innings pitched and only five runs earned against. Neither pitcher overpowered their opponents, but each rookie was poised to big situations to go most of the game unscathed.
 
Clark scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the second inning with three hits against Hudson in the frame. Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.) and Zach Richall (Tyngsboro, Mass.) both led off the inning with singles to put a runner in scoring position with no one out. Eglow scored on a sacrifice fly by Adam Chochrek (Foxboro, Mass.) to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
 
Hudson nearly pitched his way out of the inning without any further damage, but Tyler Hutchinson (Greene, Maine) knocked a two-strike pitch into the right-field corner for a triple to score Richall.
 
The Scots bounced back with three singles of their own in the bottom of the second. Gordon scored one run and had the bases loaded with only one out, but nice play by Bonicki at short led to an inning-ending double play.
 
Both teams had extra base hits that led to a single run in the third to keep Clark's lead at one. Three scoreless innings followed to set up a potentially exciting finish.
 
Hudson pitched to a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh to keep Gordon's chances at a comeback alive and the Fighting Scots responded with getting their first two batters on base. With runners on the corners and one out in the inning, a botched squeeze play led to an easy double play for the Cougars to end Gordon's rally bid on the spot.
 
Tice earned his second win of the season while giving up only two runs on nine hits and striking out three. Hudson went seven innings strong with three runs and eight hits given up in the losing effort.
 
Quick Hits

• Demers incredible start to the season continued as the first baseman went 5-for-7 with two doubles and an RBI.
• Amore became the first Scots to two wins with opponents hitting under the Mendoza line against him.
• The home team is 2-6 in Gordon's eight games in Florida.
• Gordon left 15 runners on base compared to only nine for the Cougars.
• After starting the year 0-for-11 at the plate, Paulsen is 5-for-6 with three RBI in the last three games.
• Eglow and Bonicki led the Cougars with three hits each.