Game 1 Box Score           Game 2 Box Score

The Malone University softball team tallied a 1-1 record in its road doubleheader against Point Park (PA) University on Wednesday afternoon.  PPU used a big five-run fourth inning to pull away for a 7-5 victory in game one.  A strong outing by pitcher Shelby Snyder and a grand slam by second baseman Desi Givens then helped the Pioneers bounce back with a 4-0 triumph in the finale.

With the split, Malone's record moved to 4-13 on the season while Point Park went to 6-10 overall.

The Pioneers will be back in action on Friday and Saturday when they compete at the Cedarville University Classic.  On Friday, Malone will play Cedarville (12-10) at 12:00 p.m. and Ursuline College (6-6) at 5:00 p.m. with both games being held at Cedarville.  Then, on Saturday, the Pioneers will face Urbana University (5-13) at 9:00 a.m. and Salem International (WV) University (11-9) at 11:45 a.m. with both contests being held at Urbana.

Game One Recap
In game one, four errors by the visitors proved too much to overcome in the Pioneer loss.  The hosts led 1-0 heading into the top of the third inning when Malone proceeded to score three runs on a pair of bases loaded walks and a sacrifice fly by first baseman Lauren Hershberger.  Point Park would then add a run in the bottom of the third to cut their deficit to 3-2. The big inning of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning when the hosts scored five more runs (four of which were unearned) to post a 7-3 lead. 

The Pioneers, after being held scoreless in the top of the fifth and sixth, did muster two runs in the top half of the seventh inning on a pair of RBI singles by Givens (who went 4-for-4 in the game) and third baseman Kelsee Locker.  The team could get no closer, though, with the final score staying at 7-5.

Starting pitcher Stephanie Byrne suffered the loss, falling to 1-4 on the year, after pitching the first three innings of the contest. Byrne allowed five runs (only one earned) while striking out one.  Nicol Chesley came on in relief and also pitched three innings, allowing one hit and two unearned runs.

Game Two Recap
In game two, with both pitchers tossing a scoreless game heading into the top of the fifth inning, the visiting Pioneers broke open the contest as Givens blasted a gram slam homer to give Malone the 4-0 lead.  Neither team would score for the remainder of the game which gave Malone the victory at 4-0.  Seven Pioneer batters collected one hit each in the contest.

Snyder earned the victory for Malone and improved to 2-5 on the season after tossing the complete game and allowing only four hits while striking out six batters and walking none.