Edward Waters Box Score  |  Tennessee Wesleyan Box Score

The Malone University softball team, under the direction of second-year head coach Whitney Hartman, began its 2011 campaign on Saturday by splitting a pair of games at the Smash Hit Tournament in Savannah, Georgia. The Pioneers pounded out 16 hits and scored 15 runs in just five innings of the opener, a 15-0, run-rule victory over Edward Waters (FL) College. Malone added eight more base hits in game two, but managed to push just one run across the plate in a 5-1 loss to Tennessee Wesleyan College.

Second baseman Nikki Eshelman got a huge game at the plate started in the second inning of Saturday's opener with a two-run triple to centerfield. Malone then nearly batted around twice in the third, ripping 11 hits and scoring 10 times in the inning. Big hits in the frame included a two-run homer by shortstop Kristen Atzenhoefer and two-run singles by first baseman Brittany Larch and leftfielder Sarah Samblanet. Malone then tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning with a two-run homer by Eshelman and an RBI double by Samblanet.

Eight different Pioneers recorded at least one hit in the five-inning rout. Eshelman finished a double short of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with five RBI's. Samblanet went 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI's while rightfielder Brittany Stevenson also notched three hits in four at-bats.

Pitchers Lauren Hershberger and Jessica Krska combined on a two-hit shutout with Hershberger picking up the victory (1-0) after tossing the first three innings.

In the second game of the afternoon, Tennessee Wesleyan jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings. Malone managed to bring home one run in the top of the seventh on a one-out, infield single by centerfielder Elizabeth Sarkissian. Stevenson followed with a single to left to load the bases but the Bulldogs managed to induce a double-play to short-circuit the Pioneer rally and cement the 5-1 victory.

Sarkissian posted three singles in four at-bats from the leadoff spot to pace the Malone offense. Starting pitcher Shelby Snyder suffered the loss (0-1) after giving up the five runs (three earned) on five hits over 2.2 innings of work. Larch followed with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.

The Pioneers will be back in action on Monday with two more games at the Smash Hit Tournament. Malone will face the University of Findlay at 2:00 p.m. before taking on Brewton-Parker (GA) College at 4:00 p.m. Live stats will be available for both games courtesy of the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) Sports Information department.