Box Score

The Malone University baseball team put together its best offensive game of the season on Thursday evening in a 16-9 victory at Lake Erie College  The Pioneers fell behind 7-2 early on but then scored at least two runs in each of the final five innings to pull away for the high-scoring victory.

The Storm (26-17 overall, 20-10 GLIAC) knotted the score at 9-9 with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Malone (18-28 overall, 3-17 GLIAC) plated four runs in the eighth and two more runs in the ninth to put the contest out of reach.

Third baseman Jon Crank, first baseman Logan Gray and catcher Matt Davis, the No. 3, 4, and 5 hitters in Malone's line-up on Thursday, fueled the big afternoon as the trio combined for 13 RBI's and 11 base hits, seven of which went for extra bases. 

Davis went 4-for-6, finishing the game with two homers, a double and seven RBI's.  The sophomore's two round-trippers marked the first time since 2010 that a Pioneer hit two home runs in a single game.  In addition, Davis' seven runs batted in were the most in a single game for a Malone player since the 2013 season when teammate Hayden Mobley also drove in seven during a 17-8 triumph over Peru State (NE) University.  

Gray, who earlier in the day was named to the Capital One Academic All-District First Team, posted four hits in five at-bats with a pair of doubles and three RBI's.  The senior now has 16 doubles on the year, the most in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  Gray is now five doubles shy of matching the Malone single-season record.

Crank also had a career day, going 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, two intentional walks, three RBI's and four runs scored.  Leftfielder Austin Pachan and rightfielder Matt Wheeler both added a pair of base hits while centerfielder Daulton Ritter ripped his first career homer, a two-run shot to right-center in the top of the sixth.

As a team, Malone posted season highs in nearly every offensive category, including runs, hits (18), RBI's (16), doubles (7), home runs (4), and total bases (37).  The Pioneers' impressive offensive performance threatened a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference records, as they finished one double and two homers shy of the league's single-game marks.

Starting pitcher Taylore Baker tossed the first seven innings for the Pioneers to pick up the victory and improve his record to 7-4 on the year.

Malone will wrap up the regular season with a three-game series over the weekend at NCAA Division II #18 Grand Valley State (MI) University.  The Pioneers and Lakers will play a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday before concluding the series with a nine-inning game, starting at noon on Sunday.  The Pioneers kept their postseason hopes alive with Thursday's victory, but will likely need to sweep GVSU in order to have a chance to compete in the GLIAC Tournament (the top 6 finishers in the GLIAC regular-season standings qualify for the conference's postseason tournament).