Ohio Dominican Box Score |
West Liberty Box Score
The Malone University softball team concluded its spring break trip at the Smash Hit Tournament in Savannah, Georgia on Wednesday by tallying a 1-1 record in a pair of games against NCAA Division II opponents. The Pioneers topped Ohio Dominican University 8-3 in the opener before suffering a tough 7-6 loss to West Liberty (WV) University in game two as the Hilltoppers rallied from a 6-5 deficit, recording the walk-off victory with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Malone's overall record moved to 3-6 following Wednesday's action. Ohio Dominican fell to 2-9 with the loss while West Liberty picked up its first win of the season, improving to 1-9.
Wednesday's opener with Ohio Dominican was knotted 3-3 after four innings. The Pioneers pulled ahead with an unearned run in the fifth and then took command of the game by scoring four times in the bottom of the sixth. Malone's big inning was fueled by a two-out, two-run double by pitcher
Brittany Larch and RBI singles by second baseman
Nicole Eshelman and shortstop
Kristen Atzenhoefer. Larch tossed a complete game for the Pioneers, improving her record to 1-1 on the year after limiting the Panthers to the three runs on five hits over her seven innings of work. Atzenhoefer paced the Malone offense, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI's. Larch, Eshelman, and first baseman
Karre Thompson each added two hits apiece.
West Liberty brought home four runs in the bottom of the third inning to grab a 5-1 lead in Wednesday's finale. Malone fought back, though, scoring twice in the top of the fourth and three times in the top of the sixth to pull ahead 6-5. The Hilltoppers were retired in order in the bottom of the sixth but used a walk, a pair of base hits and a fielder's choice to rally for the win in the bottom of the seventh. Pitcher
Shelby Snyder started and worked the first 3.1 innings. Pitcher
Jessica Krska then entered the game in the fourth and tossed the final three innings, suffering the loss (1-2) after allowing the two late runs. Leftfielder
Megan Lane paced the Pioneer offense by going 2-for-4 at the plate with one run scored and one run batted in.
Weather permitting, Malone is scheduled to return to action in Ohio on Monday with a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader at the University of Rio Grande (4-4 overall).
