By: Max Miesse, Clark State Student Sports Information

FAIRBORN, Ohio - Clark State started the year by breaking the bats out. The Eagles played a three-game weekend series against the Ancilla College Chargers (1-5) from Indiana and pulled off a convincing 2-1 series win at Nischwitz Stadium with wins of 12-9 (9 innings) and 12-2 (6).

The series prominently featured the Eagles' offensive capabilities as they scored 27 runs through the three games and hit seven extra base hits to finish with a team slash line of .316 batting average, .455 on-base percentage and .421 slugging percentage.

The bats were alive across the lineup, but Clark State benefited from standout performances by catcher Wesly Lozada and left fielder Brandon Williams.

Lozada finished the series with eight hits in 10 at-bats with an outstanding slugging percentage of 1.000. Meanwhile, Williams unleashed the power he had been demonstrating in all the scrimmages beforehand.

Williams drove in seven runs while maintaining a batting average of .500. Game 3 of the series saw Williams go 3-for-3 with a single, a triple and a homerun. For his troubles, Williams was named the OCCAC Player of the Week.

Every offense needs good defense, and there was plenty to be seen especially on the mound. The three games were started by Bryce McMurray (5.1 IP, 8 runs), Brady Stone (7 IP, 0 runs) and Mickael Pierrot (6 IP, 2 runs), respectively.

The Eagles pitching staff kept things in order by finishing the series with 25 strikeouts to 24 hits, 15 walks and a team ERA of 4.32.

OCCAC Pitcher of the Week honors were given to Pierrot (pictured on the left) for his Game 3 efforts, giving the Eagles a sweep of the weekly OCCAC awards to start the season.

Clark State is off to about as good of a start as you could ask for, sitting at 2-1, and seeing trustworthy performances in all phases of the game. Their next action will be a doubleheader on Saturday, March 7 against the Wright State Lake Campus Lakers at Nischwitz Stadium with a 1 p.m. first pitch for Game 1.