But despite solid performances from the young Lady Bisons, Clearfield fell 10-1 to the Lady Beavers at the Bison Sports Complex.

"It was a real good effort and a good attitude tonight," Clearfield head coach Bob Dixon said. "We had a few changes (to the lineup) and the girls came out and played hard."

Clearfield fell victim to the big inning as DuBois plated eight runs on eight hits in the third. All eight were unearned as a Lady Bison error prolonged the frame.

"We had one bad inning," Dixon said. "Everything was falling, and they were hitting the ball where we weren't. And they had a couple good hits, too."

Kirsten Wilcox, who was 3-for-4 in the contest, had a two-run single in the third, while Brianna Sayers added a three-run double.

Butler gave up 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings of work, but surrendered just two earned runs. She struck out three batters and walked two before leaving the game in the top of the sixth inning after getting drilled on the outside of her knee by a Meghan Brown line drive.

She had retired seven straight batters prior to that, as she found her groove after the tough third inning.

"She did a nice job," Dixon said of Butler. "She hung in there and she battled. I think she lost her location in the (third), but she's a freshman and it's something she'll work on."

Owens made her first start at shortstop as regular Megan Butler was on an academic excursion.

"Last year, Megan won a business award and attended a conference in Harrisburg, and she did it again this year. We're mighty proud of her," Dixon said. "She's a good student and we need that. We want good students too, not just good athletes."

Owens made the most of her chance, belting a double in the first inning and adding a single in the third to account for two of the Lady Bisons' five hits.

"Melinda was playing jayvees against State College," Dixon said. "This was her first varsity game, and she got her first varsity hit. We had a lot of firsts tonight."

Dixon was pleased with his squad up and down the lineup, as it showed a lot of improvement in the batter's box since the State College game.

"We were a lot more aggressive at the plate," he said. "We didn't tear the cover off the ball, but we went up there and swung the bat. We didn't quite hit well enough yet, but we're going to get there. We have some real good sticks."

Suzie Colesar added a pair of singles for Clearfield, while B.J. Bowman tripled and scored in the bottom of the sixth inning. She crossed the plate on a Julie Colesar fielder's choice. That got the Lady Bisons an extra at-bat as DuBois was set to win the game by 10-run rule in the bottom of the sixth.

 "The girls didn't quit," Dixon said. "This is a real good group of kids. They play hard, and they know it takes work to get better. We want to play our best ball at the end of the season. It's coming."

Bowman also relieved Butler in the circle after she left the game, facing six batters and fanning four of them.

"B.J. didn't want to pitch this year, but when Andrea got injured there was nothing else we could do," Dixon said. "We had nobody else. And B.J. came in and did very well."

Brown and Wilcox led DuBois with three hits apiece. Wilcox and Sayers both had three RBIs.

Butler made the start in the circle for the Lady Bisons because regular pitcher Mandy Rowles left the team due to personal reasons.

Clearfield (0-2) is back in action this afternoon, playing host to Hollidaysburg.

DuBois-10

Lange cf 5110, Hanna 2b 4121, Vizza 2b 0000, Barbey c 3110, Brown ss 4231, Wallock p-lf 3000, Castellani ph-rf 1000, Wilcox 3b 4233, Obremski 1b 4121, Angelo lf 1100, Krise p 1000, Sayers dp 2113, Tangren rf (flex)-dp 2000, Hryn rf-lf (flex) 0000. Totals: 34-10-13-9.

Clearfield-1

Zalno lf 4000, Owens ss 4020, Bowman cf-p 3110, J. Colesar 1b 3001, S. Colesar rf 3020, Harbold dp 1000, Dunsmore ph 0000, Morgan 2b 3000, Read 3b 3000, A. Butler p 2000, Reed cf 1000, Moore c (flex) 0000. Totals: 27-1-5-1.

Score by Innings

DuBois                         018            001            0-10            13   3

Clearfield                      000            001            0- 1              5   2

Errors-Wilcox 2, Brown; B. Bowman, Morgan. LOB-DuBois 6, Clearfield 7. 2B-Sayers; Owens. 3B-B. Bowman. SAC-Angelo; Harbold. HBP-Dunsmore (by Krise). WP-K. Butler. PB-Moore 3.

Pitching

DuBois: Wallock-4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO; Krise-3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO.

Clearfield: Butler-5 1/3 IP, 12 H, 10 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO; B. Bowman-1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO.

WP-Wallock. LP-A. Butler (0-1).

Time-1:47.