GLIAC Tournament Central

The Malone University baseball team's trip to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament wrapped up on Friday morning following a 7-4 loss to sixth-seeded Wayne State (MI) University in the event's consolation bracket.

The Pioneers, seeded fifth among the six-team tournament field, conclude their 2015 campaign with a 28-23 overall record.  Wayne State, now 23-24-1 overall, remains alive in the consolation bracket and will continue play in Xenia, Ohio on Saturday.

The Warriors' Kyle Zimmerman, who tossed all nine innings on the mound for Wayne State, batted out of the clean-up spot Friday and staked his team to a 2-0 lead after smacking a two-run homer in the top of the first inning.

Centerfielder Brenden Wells ripped an RBI triple in the bottom of the second inning, cutting the deficit in half while setting a new Pioneer single-season record.  Wells' ninth three-base hit of the year allowed the sophomore to eclipse Malone Athletics Hall of Famer Steve Buso's 1993 record of eight triples.

Zimmerman helped his own cause once again in the top of the third, delivering a two-out RBI single to center to increase the lead to 3-1.

Wayne State then took command of the game with four runs in the top of the fifth.  The Warriors used three base hits, two hit by pitches, a walk and a Malone error to push across the four runs and increase their lead to 7-1.

The Pioneers got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth.  Leftfielder Ryan Froman led off the frame with a single, moved to second on a walk and then scored on a Warrior throwing error.  Another walk loaded the bases with no outs, but Zimmerman managed to limit the damage as third baseman Jon Crank's sacrifice fly brought home the only other run that Malone could muster in the inning.

Trailing 7-3, the Pioneers got their first two batters aboard in the ninth with a double by designated hitter Matt Davis and a single by catcher Hayden Mobley.  A one-out sacrifice fly by Froman brought home Davis and trimmed the deficit to 7-4.  However, Zimmerman induced a groundout to second to cement the Warrior victory.

Zimmerman threw a hefty total of 165 pitches over his nine innings of work, improving his record to 4-6 on the season.

Freshman Joshua Hurford started on the mound for Malone and suffered the loss (6-4) after tossing the first four innings, yielding five runs (four earned) on six hits.  Reliever Jordan Knight worked two-thirds of an inning before giving way to lefty Tyler Whitlatch, who held Wayne State scoreless over the final 4.1.

The Pioneers tallied 14 hits on the afternoon.  Froman was 3-for-4 with a run scored.  Mobley registered three singles in five at-bats while Wells, Crank and Davis all added two hits apiece.

Following the completion of the tournament on Sunday, Whitlatch was recognized for his strong performance by being named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team.