Box Score

The Malone University softball team suffered a 15-7 defeat in game one of its American Mideast Conference doubleheader at Cedarville University on Monday afternoon as the host Yellow Jackets used a late offensive surge to put the contest away in six innings. Heavy rains, which had arrived near the conclusion of the opener, caused game two to be cancelled. Needing to win both contests during Monday's doubleheader in order to qualify for this week's four-team AMC Postseason Tournament, Malone was eliminated from playoff contention following the game one defeat. The Pioneers ended their 2011 campaign with a final record of 16-20 overall, including a 6-7 mark in conference play. Cedarville, meanwhile, secured a third-place AMC finish with Monday's win, improving to 31-17 overall and 9-4 in conference games.

The high-scoring contest started off slowly, remaining scoreless until the top of the fourth when Malone pushed four runs across the plate. The first two scores came when back-to-back Pioneer batters were hit by pitches with the bases loaded. Centerfielder Elizabeth Sarkissian and catcher Laura Ronk later added RBI singles to stretch the Malone lead to 4-0. The early advantage would not last, though, as the Yellow Jackets erupted for nine runs in the bottom of the fifth. Cedarville brought 14 batters to the plate in its big inning, capitalizing on five hits, three walks and a pair of Pioneer fielding miscues.

Malone cut the deficit to 9-7 in the top of the sixth. Leftfielder Sarah Samblanet got the frame started with a two-run homer to right. Ronk later doubled to center and came around to score on a wild pitch. However, Cedarville batted around again in the sixth, scoring six more times to cement the run-rule victory.

Malone tallied a total of 10 hits in the game. Rightfielder Brittany Stevenson notched a pair of singles while Ronk went 2-for-4 with a double, ending her Malone career on a 10-game hitting streak.