The Malone University softball team continued GLIAC play on the road at Lake Erie College on Wednesday afternoon and suffered a 3-1 defeat in game one, and lost a heartbreaking eight inning contest in game two by the final score of 4-3.

The Pioneers will travel to North Canton to face rivals Walsh University on Thursday, April 14^th. The first game is slated to start at 3:00 p.m.

Game One Recap:

Lake Erie's Hannah Shevenell hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in their first run in the bottom of the second inning to take the 1-0 advantage.

Malone tied the contest at 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning when Caley Ritts grounded out to the shortstop, advancing Emily Isla to third, and driving pinch runner Kennedy Johnson across home plate.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Storm would generate a run off a single from Lindsey Valvoda to lead 2-1. But then, two plays later, Lake Erie's Arial Birtley hit a sacrifice fly to add another run to the scoreboard, making it a 3-1 contest.

The Pioneers had just one more chance to notch some runs in the top of the seventh inning, but unfortunately they gathered three straight outs to close the game, giving the hosts the 3-1 victory.   

Allison Mercado went 1-for-3 at the plate, including her third double on the season.

Pitcher Kari Hall recorded her 14^th complete game this season and finished the game with four strikeouts.

Game Two Recap:

It would be a quiet first two frames, as neither team would tally a run. It wouldn't be until the bottom of the third frame when the Pioneers gathered their first run off a single from Abbie Hughes who brought in Shelby Hulin and Mikayla Fowler to home plate, giving Malone the 2-0 lead.

The Storm weathered right back in the top of the fourth frame, delivering three big runs to take the 3-2 lead.

Malone answered back in the bottom of the fourth frame when Hulin singled, allowing Emily Beck to score the run, tying the game at 3-3.    

The next three frames would be defensive ones as Malone and Lake Erie only registered three hits each and no runs scored, which sent the contest to extra innings.

In the top of the eighth frame, the Pioneer defense notched their first out right away. However, during the next at-bat, Lake Erie's Lindsey Valvoda singled to center field to get the Storm offense flowing. On the next play, Nicole Grimmett grounded out to shortstop, which advanced Valvoda to second base. Hannah Shevenell was next in the batting lineup and singled to center field, giving Valvoda the opportunity to score from second, which she accomplished, putting the Storm ahead 4-3.

The Pioneers had two outs in the bottom of the eighth frame, but had two players in scoring position, Hulin at third and Alexa Holztrager at second. Ashley Beck was up next in the batting lineup and struck out swinging, falling in a heartbreaking 4-3 final.

Hughes finished the game with the hot hitting as she went 3-for-4 at the plate and collected two RBI's.

Hulin was impressive at the plate, going 2-for-4, and registering one run scored and one RBI.