The Malone University baseball team opened up its spring break trip with a 9-8, 13-inning win over Davenport University (MI) on Friday afternoon at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale, Florida. Sophomore centerfielder Nate Cobb hit his first career homerun in the top of the 13th to break an 8-8 deadlock and give Malone its first win of the season. With the in-region victory over the Panthers, Malone's record now stands at 1-4 on the young season.
 
Recap
Davenport would score first, executing on a double steal in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. The Pioneers answered in the top of the second when senior first baseman Todd Ropp, who reached on a leadoff walk, came in to score on a sacrifice fly from freshman third baseman Clay Wisner.
 
Davenport regained the lead on a two-out, two-run homerun off of Malone starting pitcher Eric Mullet in the bottom of the second. Mullet settled down to hold the Panthers scoreless over the next four innings. The sophomore righty earned a no-decision as he finished with six strikeouts over six innings pitched.
 
Mullet got the bulk of his run support in a five-run top of the fifth in which the Pioneers hit just one ball out of the infield. After loading the bases on a pair of walks and a bunt single, Malone made it a 3-2 game on an RBI hit-by-pitch from Cobb. Damian Maglione followed with an RBI single to tie it up at 3-3. An RBI infield single from Joe Crank, an RBI fielder's choice from Matt Noel, and an RBI single from Todd Ropp on a perfectly executed safety squeeze bunt gave Malone a 6-3 lead.
 
Malone added two more runs in the top of the sixth. Maglione made it a 7-3 contest with a run-scoring triple to left. He then came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Crank.
 
Trailing 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the Panthers doubled in a run off of Malone reliever Cody Ballay to cut the deficit to 8-4, but Ballay worked his way out of a jam with two swinging strikeouts to limit the damage to only one run.
 
The Panthers cut the deficit in half with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but left the bases loaded. Davenport led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk and then tied it up at 8-8 on a two-run shot by Anthony DiPonio. Following a diving catch by Jacob Mottice in left and a harmless popup, the Panthers' potential game-winning run reached base on an error. A double by leadoff man Alex Huard nearly ended the game in the ninth, but a relay throw from Mottice to Wisner to Eslich behind the plate retired the baserunner from first and forced extra innings.
 
The two squads traded zeros until the top of the 13th when Cobb, leading off the frame, crushed a solo homerun down the right field line to put Malone ahead 9-8. Freshman James Kontur (1-0) closed the door in the bottom of the 13th to earn his first collegiate victory. He struck out three in two scoreless frames.
 
Maglione finished with three hits, two runs, and two RBI to lead the Malone offense in the 4-hour, 40-minute marathon contest. Crank added two singles and two RBI. Ropp collected two singles while Wisner recorded his first collegiate hit in the win. Fellow freshman Turner Hill walked three times and scored twice.
 
Up Next
Malone will square off against NCAA DII #7 Minnesota State – Mankato in a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 9:00 am