The Malone University baseball team opened Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) play with a doubleheader split with Lake Erie College Friday afternoon in Painesville. The Pioneers took the opener from the Storm 7-5 before falling in the nightcap 5-1.
 
Game One Recap:
After spotting Lake Erie a three-run lead after an inning, Malone chipped away with an RBI from Daulton Ritter in the top of the second, a run-scoring single from Richie Mast in the top of the fourth, and an RBI single from Brenden Wells in the top of the fifth.
 
Tied 3-3 in the top of the sixth, the Pioneers broke it open with a pair of homeruns. Senior second baseman Austin Pachan hit his first career dinger to lead off the inning. Three batters later, Jon Crank launched his fifth four-bagger of the season to put Malone up 6-3.
 
A Lake Erie long-ball made it 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth before Richie Mast drove in his second run of the game with a single in the top of the seventh that extended the Malone lead to 7-4.
 
Lucas Raley's second homerun of the game to lead off the bottom of the seventh cut the lead to 7-5 before the Storm proceeded to load the bases with no outs. Hard-throwing righty Joshua Hurford came on in relief to slam the door, striking out two of the final three batters to preserve the 7-5 victory with his first career save.
 
Starting pitcher Tyler Whitlatch, improved to 3-0 on the young season, allowing just five hits, two earned runs, and a lone walk while striking out six.
 
Richie Mast extended his hitting streak to 10 games with two hits in the contest. Catcher Matt Davis added two hits including a double.
 
Game Two Recap:
The Storm scored a run in each of the first three innings and never looked back to prevail in game two.
 
Lake Erie starter Russel Lamovec (3-0) kept the Pioneers in check to earn the victory in game two. The freshman limited Malone to just five hits while striking out 11 in seven innings. His lone blemish came in the top of the sixth when he allowed Jon Crank to go yard for the second time on the afternoon.
 
Roscoe Blackburn (1-3) was the tough-luck loser after giving up two earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched. The Pioneer defense committed five errors in the loss.
 
With two more hits in game two, Richie Mast stretched his hitting streak to 11 games.
 
Up Next:
The Pioneers (7-9, 1-1 GLIAC) will play the second half of a home-and-home doubleheader series with the Storm tomorrow (March 26th) at 1:00 pm. Saturday's games will be played at Schoonover Stadium on the campus of Kent State University.