Danbury, Conn. – Derek Dubois (Haverhill, Mass.) tossed a masterful one-hit shutout in game one but a walkoff win in game two left visiting Clark University with a doubleheader split with Western Connecticut State on Sunday afternoon in non-league baseball action at Westside Field.

Behind Dubois the Cougars took the opener 9-0 before dropping the nightcap 4-3. With the split, Clark sees its record sit at 7-18, while Western Connecticut is now 5-11.

Game One: Clark 9, Western Connecticut 0

Dubois was sharp from the outset as the he struck out ten batters and walked just one to post the first complete game shutout by a Clark pitcher since Andrew LeBlanc (Farmington, Conn.) went the distance while striking out 12 in a 17-0 win over Norwich last season.

At one point during the contest he retired 13 of 14 batters including recording at least one strikeout in five of the seven innings he pitched.

The Cougars got all the runs they would need in the first when they pushed four runs across the plate, highlighted by RBI singles by Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.) and Andrew Doolittle (Hebron, Conn.) and an RBI double by Brian Sullivan (Auburn, Mass.).

Clark tacked on two more runs in the third on a Sullivan RBI groundout and another when Austin Knief (Scarsdale, N.Y.) was hit with the bases loaded, making the score 6-0 before the Cougars settled for the shutout win.

Eglow, Knief and Nicholas O'Brien (Potomac, Md.) all had a pair of hits for the Cougars, while Sullivan and O'Brien each drove in two runs.

Game Two: Western Connecticut 4, Clark 3

In game two, Western Connecticut came from behind thanks to a walk-off RBI double by senior Conor Bierfeldt. Joe Fedak (entered the game in the third inning and allowed only one hit to pick up the win for the Colonials.

Clark took an early lead again, this time without the benefit of a base hit. Two walks, two hit batsmen, and a wild pitch scored two Cougar runs. Western got its first run of the day in the bottom of the first when junior Jeff John led off with a single, was bunted to second, stole third, and scored on a sacrifice fly to deep center by Bierfeldt, making the score 2-1 after one.

In the top of the second, another walk and another hit batsman put two runners on, and with two outs, Eglow drilled an RBI double down the left field line for a 3-1 Clark lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, a single, a sacrifice bunt, and another single put runners on the corners with only one out for Western. Bierfeldt was safe on an error, driving in one WCSU run, and the second Western run of the inning scored when the next batter, senior Chris Alberto, doubled just over the glove of the Clark left fielder, James Conway (Newburyport, Mass.). On the play, Bierfeldt was thrown out at home on a bang-bang play with an excellent relay from Conway-to Sullivan-to Eglow, preventing the go-ahead run from scoring for the Colonials, making the score 3-3 with two innings to play.

Neither team scored in the sixth frame, and Fedak retired Clark in order in the top of the seventh. 

In the Western half of the inning, junior Bobby Coyne drew a one-out walk from reliever David Balme (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Bierfeldt then smacked a double over the third base bag and down the line in left field and Coyne beat the relay to the plate, giving Western a 4-3 win and a split on the day's games.

Clark will return to New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday when they visit Springfield College to complete their three game series with the Pride.