Urbana Box Score  |  Grand Valley State Box Score

The Malone University softball team tallied a 1-1 record against a pair of NCAA Division II opponents Saturday afternoon at the Urbana University Invitational. The Pioneers downed the host Blue Knights 11-7 in the first game of the day before falling 7-5 in a neutral-site contest against Grand Valley State (MI) University later in the afternoon. Malone's record moved to 6-9 following Saturday's games. Urbana slipped to 5-9 with the loss while Grand Valley State improved to 11-3.

The Pioneers cashed in on six Urbana errors in Saturday's opener as 10 of Malone's 11 runs were unearned. Shortstop Kristen Atzenhoefer accounted for two of Malone's seven runs in the third-inning with her fourth homerun of the season, a two-out drive to centerfield. Two runs in the bottom of the third, one run in the fourth and one run in the fifth allowed the Blue Knights to pull within 7-5 but the Pioneers managed to regain control with three runs in the top of the sixth and one run in the top of the seventh. Urbana scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 11-7 and then made things interesting by bringing the tying run to the plate with two outs. However, pitcher Jessica Krska induced a groundout to extinguish the Blue Knight threat and preserve the victory. Malone registered a total of 12 hits in the game. Rightfielder Brittany Stevenson and second baseman Nicole Eshelman each tallied three hits and scored two runs apiece to pace the Pioneer offense. Pitcher Lauren Hershberger picked up the win (2-2) after tossing the first four innings. Krska then entered the game in the fifth and worked the final three frames to notch her first save of the year.

The Pioneers held a 5-0 advantage after four innings of Saturday's second game against Grand Valley State. The Lakers fought back to tie the game with five runs in the fifth and then took the lead for good with two more runs in the top of the seventh. Malone led off the bottom of the seventh with a single but was unable to manufacture any additional offense, falling by the 7-5 final.  Pitcher Brittany Larch suffered the loss (2-2) after tossing the first 6.1 innings.  Stevenson and Atzenhoefer paced the Pioneer offense by each going 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of singles and one run scored.  Catcher Laura Ronk went 1-for-3 with one run scored and two runs batted in.  Hershberger also helped out with her bat, delivering a two-out, three-run triple in the bottom of the third.

After day two of the Blue Knight Invitational was completed on Sunday, the Pioneers ended up finishing in second place out of the four-team field with their 1-1 record.  Grand Valley State won all four of its weekend games to place first while Notre Dame College and Urbana both went 1-3.  In addition, Stevenson and Ronk were both named to the All-Tournament Team following their strong weekend performances.

The Pioneers will be back in action on Monday afternoon when they travel to the University of Findlay for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader against the NCAA Division II Oilers. Monday's games are a make-up from a rain-out on March 15th.