Game One Box Score          Game Two Box Score

In its home Senior Day doubleheader against Notre Dame (OH) College on Wednesday, the Malone University softball team lost a pair of games to the visiting Falcons by scores of 4-3, in game one, and 22-4, in five innings in the nightcap.

With the two losses, the Pioneers' fell to 8-24 overall on the year while Notre Dame improved to 14-16 on the season.

In between games of the DH, shortstop Kristen Atzenhoefer, first baseman Lauren Hershberger centerfielder Megan Lane and third baseman Kelsee Locker were recognized as part of the Pioneers' Senior Day festivities.

Malone will close out its regular season schedule when the Pioneers next compete in a home doubleheader against Urbana University (14-20) on Friday, April 27th (time TBA).

Game One Recap
With two runs in the second inning and one in the third inning, the visitors grabbed a 3-0 lead before the host Pioneers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with one run of their own.  In that home half of the fourth, Malone got its run on an RBI double by Atzenhoefer.

Notre Dame would then add one more run, its final of the game, in the top of the fifth to take a 4-1 lead before Malone plated another run in the bottom half of the same inning on an RBI double by Lane.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Pioneers tacked on one more run, cutting their deficit to 4-3, on an RBI single down the rightfield line by Hersherberger, who was the third senior to pocket an RBI in game one.

After a scoreless top of the seventh by NDC, Malone was unable to get the equalizer in its final at-bat, making the final score 4-3 in favor of Notre Dame.

Malone edged the visitors in hits by a nine-to-seven margin as three Pioneers – Lane, Hershberger and rightfielder Katy Carr – had two hits apiece.

Starting pitcher Shelby Snyder suffered the hard-fought loss (5-9) after tossing the complete game for Malone.  She allowed seven hits but struck out seven batters whiling not allowing a walk. In addition, only two of her four runs allowed were earned.

For NDC, second baseman Kelsey Coleman tagged a team-high two hits while catcher Nicole Spehar posted a team-best two RBI's.  Falcon starting pitcher Allysa Lancaster earned the win, improving to 6-0 on the year, in five innings on the mound while reliever Ashley Hall, who pitched the seventh inning, pocketed the save.

Game Two Recap
The three runs that the Falcons scored in the first inning with five more runs that they added in the second frame put Malone in an 8-0 hole from which they would never recover.  NDC tacked on two more runs in the top of the third inning for a 10-0 advantage before the hosts plated their only four runs of the game in the bottom half of the inning – the only bright spot for the Pioneers in the nightcap.

In that bottom of the third, Malone got its runs on a solo home run by second baseman Desi Givens to lead off the inning before catcher Jessi Crain would later drive in two runs on a double to left center.  The final run of the inning for Malone came when Crain scored as Lane reached first on an error by the Falcons.

With the visitors leading 10-4 heading into the top of the fourth and a possible mercy-rule win on the horizon for Notre Dame, the Falcons showed no mercy as they plated six runs in the top of the fourth and added six more in the top of the fifth.  Malone was not able to score in the bottom half of either inning, making the final score 22-4 (in five innings) in favor of NDC.

Malone tallied eight hits in the contest, by eight different batters, while the Falcons pounded out an impressive 24 hits in the game.  Left fielder Megan Turner led NDC in hits with four (in five at-bats) while designated hitter Jamie Clausen notched a team-best five RBI's.  In addition, the Pioneers posted five errors to Notre Dame's three.

Pioneer starting pitcher Stephanie Byrne, who pitched just 1 1/3 innings, took the loss (2-6) as she allowed eight hits and seven earned runs.  Nicol Chesley came on in relief for the final 3 2/3 innings. The Falcons' starting pitcher Ashley Hall earned the win for the visitors (3-9).