The Malone University baseball team tallied a 1-1 record on Saturday in its home doubleheader against NCAA Division II No. 21 Ashland University, posting a 5-0 victory in game one before falling 6-2 in the 18-inning finale.

The two squads will wrap up their four-game weekend series at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium on Sunday with two more games.  The first pitch of game one is slated for 1:00 p.m.

Game One Recap
Right-handed starting pitcher Joe Costello improved his record to 7-1 on the season after tossing a complete-game shutout in the opener.  Costello scattered seven hits while striking out four and walking just one over seven strong innings.

The Pioneers got on the scoreboard with one run in the third and two more runs in the fourth.  Designated hitter Hayden Mobley made it 4-0 with an RBI single in the fifth before third baseman Jon Crank wrapped up the scoring in the sixth with a two-out RBI single through the left side of the infield.

The Pioneers tallied nine hits in the contest with Crank, Mobley and first baseman Tyler Eagon each registering two apiece.

Game Two Recap
Ashland entered the bottom of the ninth inning holding a 2-1 advantage in the finale.  Leftfielder Ryan Froman got Malone's rally started when he was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame.  Following a strikeout, Froman came all the way around to score the tying run on a clutch double down the rightfield line by pinch hitter Ryan Sarbaugh.

Both teams put runners on base throughout the next few innings but the contest would remain deadlocked until the bottom of the 18th when the Eagles erupted for four runs to secure the extra-inning triumph.

Malone's best chance to bring home the winning run came in the 16^th.  With runners on the corners and no outs, Crank lifted a fly ball into foul territory down the leftfield line.  The Eagles' Kyle Brooks caught the ball midway down the line and then fired a strike to home.  Malone pinch runner Dyllan West tagged and tried to score from third but was called out on a close play at the plate, keeping the game deadlocked at 2-2.

Lefthander Tyler Whitlatch started on the mound and tossed the first 7.2 innings, yielding two runs (one earned) on eight hits.  Jordan Yoder got the final out of the eighth and then worked a scoreless ninth.  Gunnar Smeyres tossed the first five extra frames, allowing just one hit while striking out four.  Jordan Knight hurled the final four innings and was saddled with the loss (1-2).

10 different Pioneers posted at least one base hit in the nearly five-hour game.  Designated hitter Brenden Wells, rightfielder Matt Wheeler and second baseman Austin Pachan all notched two hits apiece.