Game One Box Score      Game Two Box Score

The Malone University baseball team dropped a pair of away contests in a doubleheader at Ashland University on Saturday. In game one, the Pioneers were edged by the score of 4-3 before falling by an 8-2 margin in the second game.  With the pair of losses, Malone slipped to 6-12 on the season while the Eagles improved to 8-5 overall.

In game one, the host Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the conclusion of the first inning after a two-run homer by Ashland's Tyler Gray and an RBI single by John Broll. But heading into the fourth inning and trailing by the same 3-0 score, the Pioneers got three runs of their own to tie it at 3-3 after another Gray, Pioneer second baseman Logan Gray, hit a home run, this one a three-run shot to left centerfield.  But, in the bottom of the sixth inning, Ashland got its final run of the game to grab a 4-3 advantage.  Malone narrowly missed plating the tying run in the bottom of the seventh inning, leaving a man stranded on third base as the final Pioneer batter struck out swinging.

Gray paced Malone with a pair of hits while five other Pioneers had one hit apiece.  Ashland matched Malone in hits with seven of their own while the Eagles committed one less error, with just one, than the visitors' two for the game.

Malone's Jared Messer pitched a complete game for the squad allowing seven hits in his six innings of work.  Messer, who suffered his first defeat of the season and is now 3-1 on the year, collected six strikeouts while walking only one. Ashland's Aaron Hilt (3-1) earned the win (in six innings) while teammate Zach Botjer earned the save.

In game two, Ashland jumped out to an 8-0 lead after five innings with the big inning coming in the bottom of the fifth when the Eagles plated six runs. Malone scored its only two runs of the game in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Michael Chack that scored shortstop Joe Piporo and an RBI single by Gray that scored centerfielder Adam Heideman.

Ashland drilled 10 hits in game two while the Pioneers tallied five hits. Malone had two errors in the contest while the Eagles did not commit an error in the game.

In four innings pitched, starter Alex Haines (0-3) suffered his third loss of the season, allowing five earned runs while striking out four batters. Tyler Whitlach and Brad Beachy both came on in relief and pitched one inning apiece.  The Eagles' Brad Thomas (2-0) earned the win in five and one-third innings of work.

Malone will be back in action next Wednesday (March 21st) when the Pioneers entertain visiting Salem International (WV) University (2-19) in Malone's home opener, a doubleheader that is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.