Box Score The Malone University baseball team notched an exciting extra-inning victory at Thurman Munson Stadium on Wednesday, pulling out an 8-7 win in its series finale with Wayne State (MI) University.
After splitting a doubleheader on Tuesday, the two teams battled back and forth Wednesday. The Warriors grabbed a 3-0 advantage in the first inning and later held leads of 4-2, 5-4, 6-5 and 7-6, but Malone managed to battle back each time before eventually capturing the victory in the bottom of the 11th-inning on a two-run single by third baseman
Jon Crank.
The Warriors broke a 5-5 tie with an unearned run in the top of the ninth. However, the Pioneers managed to send the contest to extra innings by knotting the score at 6-6 in the bottom of the frame. Rightfielder
Matt Wheeler started the inning with a walk and then used some aggressive base running to advance all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt by catcher
Hayden Mobley.
First baseman
Logan Gray then stepped to the plate and grounded a ball to second. With its infield drawn in, Wayne State fielded the ball and fired home, but not before Wheeler slid in safely with the tying run.
The Warriors once again pulled ahead in the top of the 11th, plating their seventh run of the game with a one-out sacrifice fly. Trailing 7-6, the Pioneers put together another rally in the bottom of the inning. Wheeler got things started once again, leading off the 11th by drawing a hit-by-pitch. Back-to-back bunt singles by Mobley and second baseman
Richie Mast loaded the bases, setting the stage for Crank's heroics. The sophomore from Louisville, Ohio then stepped to the plate and lined a pitch to center, scoring Wheeler with the tying run from third and Mobley with the winning run from second.
The walk-off victory allowed Malone to capture the series win over Wayne State while also improving its record to 13-14 overall and 8-4 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The loss dropped the Warriors to 16-9 overall and 5-5 in conference play.
Wheeler moved from right field to the pitcher's mound in the ninth and earned the victory (1-1) after tossing the final 2.1 innings. Wheeler, making just his third pitching appearance of the season, struck out four, yielding just the one run on one hit.
Freshman
Mike Shori started on the mound and worked the first five innings for the Pioneers, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits. Reliever
Joe Costello followed with three solid innings before giving way to closer
Branden Carey in the ninth. Carey retired the first two batters of the inning before Wheeler brought the frame to a close with a strikeout.
Malone racked up 16 hits in the contest with 10 different players recording at least one hit apiece. Gray came up big throughout the afternoon, totaling four RBI's and tying the game on three different occasions. In addition to his ninth-inning RBI grounder that scored Wheeler, Gray also delivered a two-out, two-run single in the fifth that knotted the score at 4-4. He then came through again with two outs in the seventh, making it 5-5 with an RBI single to center.
The Pioneers nearly brought home the winning run in the tenth, but shortstop
Kyler King was called out on a close play at the plate while trying to score on a Wayne State throwing error.
Malone's lengthy homestand continues this weekend with a three-game series against Tiffin University. The Pioneers and Dragons are slated to play a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and a single, nine-inning game on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
