Auburndale, Fla. – Clark University exploded for seven runs in the seventh inning and the Cougars earned a split with Mount Union, winning the nightcap 12-7 after dropping the opener 5-2 in non-league baseball action on Monday afternoon.

The Cougars (1-2) actually jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first as Matt Asdornvuttikrai (Winchester, Mass.), David Eschen (New York, N.Y.) and James Conway (Newburyport, Mass.) all had RBI in the inning.

Mount Union answered back immediately in the bottom of the inning courtesy of four hits and a Clark error, making the score 4-4.

The Scarlet and White took the lead back in the top of the second when Zach Richall (Tyngsboro, Mass.) led off the inning with a double and came around to score on an Asdornvuttikrai groundout.

With the score 5-4 in favor of Clark, the Purple Raiders pushed across three runs in the third on an RBI double by Justin Jakubik and run-scoring singles by Tyler Simcox and Nick Piotrowski.

The Cougars inched closer in the fifth on back-to-back singles by Asdornvuttikrai and Eschen and an RBI groundout by Jack Kenney (Saco, Maine), making the score 7-6.

Thanks to the Clark bullpen combination of Conor Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.) and Kai Glick (New York, N.Y.), Mount Union over the final two innings, setting the stage for the Cougars big rally in the seventh.

It all began with back-to-back singles by Richall and Kyle Bonicki (Waterbury, Conn.), putting runners on first and second with no outs. As he did throughout, Asdornvuttikrai came through with a big hit – a run-producing single that plated Richall. Eschen then walked to load the bases and Clark went ahead at 8-7 when Bonicki scored on a wild pitch.

The Cougars then added to their advantage on a Teddy Downing (Cambridge, Mass.) RBI single and back-to-back walks by Conway and Adam Chochrek (Foxboro, Mass.) gave the Scarlet and White a 10-7 edge.

Another run came across on a Richall walk and Bonicki drove in the final two runs with a single in an inning that saw Clark send 13 batters to the plate and score seven runs on five hits.

In the opener, Kyle Toma outdueled the Clark pitching combination of Patrick Robinson (Watertown, Conn.) and Joseph Gouveia (Nashua, N.H.) as the Purple Raiders won, 5-2.

The Cougars committed a pair of costly errors that led to four unearned runs which proved to be the difference in the game.

Robinson – making his first start for the Cougars – pitched effectively, going five innings while allowing nine hits and five runs, only one of which was earned. Meanwhile, Gouveia was excellent in relief, allowing just two hits over the two innings in which he worked.

Mount Union opened up the scoring with an unearned run in the second and then tacked on three more in the third as the strung together three hits including an RBI double down the line by James Weber and an RBI single by Scott Sherwood.

Down 4-1, Clark finally pushed a run across in the bottom of the third when Richall and Chochrek registered back-to-back singles and Richall scored on Lima's sacrifice fly to left.

Three straight hits capped by a Weber RBI single plated another run for the Purple Raiders in the top of the fifth.

The Cougars mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh when Bonicki reached on an error and Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.) singled. Another error by Mount Union, made the score 5-2 with one out and runners on first and second.

Toma, however, was able to get the final two outs for the complete game victory for the Purple Raiders.

Clark will be back in action on Tuesday when they face Aurora University at 6:30 p.m.