The Lady Bisons managed just one run on three hits and dropped a 5-1 decision to Punxsutawney, which was led by pitcher Angie Burke.

Burke gave up just three singles and walked two batters, while striking out 11 Lady Bisons.

"She had good location," Clearfield head coach Bob Dixon said. "I didn't think she was overly powerful, but she located well and moved the ball around. And we just weren't aggressive at the plate. We struck out looking at least three times, and we watched a lot of strikes go by."

Making matters worse for Clearfield was Lady Bison pitcher Mandy Rowles' slow start.

She walked a batter and hit two more in the first inning, which led to the first Lady Chuck run.

Punxsutawney got to the Clearfield pitcher again in the second, as the first two batters reached on a single and an infield error. Angie Laska plated both runners with a sharp single to right field.

But after spotting the Lady Chucks three runs, Rowles found her control and breezed through the Punxsutawney lineup until the sixth.

She struck out the side in the second after surrendering the runs and only allowed two base runners over the next three frames.

Another error led to a pair of insurance runs for Punxsutawney in the top of the sixth.

Sara Ruhlis led off with a single and moved to second on a Megan Kauffman sacrifice. Clearfield second baseman Alanna Luzier, who was covering first on the bunt, couldn't handle the throw from Rowles on the sacrifice and the runner was safe, while Ruhlis motored to third base.

Pinch-hitter Allie Lelock made Clearfield pay with a double to the wall in left field, scoring both runs.

"When you're not scoring runs, those are errors you can't afford to have," Dixon said. "We have to give Mandy some support so she can relax a little bit. You go out there every inning and you're afraid to put a runner on because if they get a run ... that's a lot of pressure."

The Lady Bisons finally solved Burke in the bottom of the sixth.

Luzier led off with a walk and moved to second on a Megan Butler groundout. Ashley Lias followed with a single to right field, which knocked in Luzier.

But Burke got Rowles to ground into a fielder's choice and struck out Julie Colesar to end the rally.

Rowles tossed a complete game, giving up five runs - three earned - on just six hits. She walked two batters and hit two and had 10 strikeouts.

"I thought Mandy threw a decent game," Dixon said.

Lias, Kenzie McGovern and Alyssa Anderson had the hits for Clearfield, which fell to 0-2 on the young season. Anderson also reached on a base on balls.

"I'd rather be 0-2 and play our best game at the end of the year, than be 2-0 and fall down flat at the end of the year," Dixon said. "As long as we work hard and keep improving, I can live with this."

Clearfield is back in action this afternoon, making the short trip down Route 879 to play defending Class A state champ Curwensville.

Punxsutawney-5
Laska ss 2112, McFarland 3b 4000, Elgin 1b 3000, Miller lf 4010, Burke p 2000, McCully dp 4011, Ruhlis c 3110, Kauffman cf 2210, Depp rf 2100, Lelock ph 1012, Shields pr 0000, Spack (flex) 2b 0000. Totals: 27-5-6-5.

Clearfield-1
Luzier 2b 2100, Butler 3b 3000, Lias ss 3011, Rowles p 3000, J. Colesar 1b 3000, Anderson cf 2010, S. Colesar dp 3000, McGovern c 3010, Kovalick lf 2000, Mahlon (flex) rf 0000. Totals: 24-1-3-1.

Score by Innings
Punxsutawney            120   002   0-5   6   0
Clearfield             000   001   0-1   3   3

Errors-Luzier 2, Mahlon. LOB-Punxsutawney 7, Clearfield 4. 2B-Lelock. SAC-Burke, Kauffman. SB-Laska 2, Kauffman. SB-Laska 2, Kauffman. HBP-Laska, Burke. PB-McGovern.

Pitching
Punxsutawney: Burke-7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO.
Clearfield: Rowles-7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO.

WP-Burke. LP-Rowles (0-2).
Time-1:34.