Game 1 Box Score  |  Game 2 Box Score

The Malone University baseball team split its home doubleheader against Cedarville University on Wednesday afternoon at Thurman Munson Stadium.  The visiting Yellow Jackets scored four times in the top of the seventh inning to rally for a 5-2 win in the opener.   Game two then remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when the Pioneers erupted for five runs en route to a 5-0 victory.

Malone moved to 22-16 overall following Wednesday's games while Cedarville now holds a record of 26-9.

The Pioneers will be back in action on Thursday afternoon with a 2:00 p.m. road doubleheader at Urbana University (16-19 overall).

Game One Recap
Malone grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the third inning in game one as leftfielder Sam Craciun scored from third on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Joe Goddard. 

An RBI groundout by Cedarville first baseman Nate Davenport knotted things up at 1-1 in the top of the sixth before the Pioneers pulled ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the frame on a two-out, solo homer to right by third baseman Bob Suitca.

The Yellow Jackets stormed back in the top of the seventh, though, using a Malone error, three base hits and a sacrifice fly to pull in front 5-2.  Cedarville shortstop Alex Beelen tied the game up with an RBI single to right.  Rightfielder Chris Ward put CU in front 3-2 with a sacrifice fly and designated hitter David Ledbetter then tacked on a pair of insurance runs with a triple to right-center.

The Pioneers put one runner on base in the bottom of the seventh but Yellow Jacket reliever Ryan Ledbetter then entered the game and cemented the win by retiring the next two Malone batters.

CU starting pitcher Steve Cardwell earned his second victory of the season (2-4) after tossing the first 6.1 innings.  Malone starter Jared Messer went the distance on the mound for the Pioneers, suffering just his second loss of the year (7-2) after giving up five runs (one earned) on eight hits.

Malone registered six base hits in the game, led by first baseman Matt Anderson, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.

Game Two Recap
Pioneer starting pitcher Alex Haines and Cedarville starter Sean Larkin dueled back and forth throughout the finale, each giving up just two hits apiece through the first five innings. 

Malone then batted around in the bottom of the sixth, plating all five of its game-two runs in the frame.  The Pioneers racked up a total of six hits during the big inning, getting RBI singles from second baseman Logan Gray and rightfielder Marc Adams before Goddard closed out the scoring with a two-out, two-run single up the middle.

The Yellow Jackets put two runners on base with one out in the top of the seventh, but reliever Nate Morrison was able to preserve the shutout with a pair of fly-outs to center.

Haines ran his record to 3-3 on the year after limiting Cedarville to just three hits through the first six innings.  The junior lefty struck out seven and walked two. 

Larkin took the loss (4-2) for the visitors after giving up all five runs (only two of which were earned) on seven hits.

Catcher T.J. Rosenberg and designated hitter Michael Chack both tallied two hits apiece to lead the way for the Pioneer offense.