In a game that was moved up a day from its originally scheduled time due to probable rain showers this week, the Malone University baseball team suffered a 9-5 defeat to NCAA Division II #15 Mercyhurst University Monday afternoon in Erie, Pennsylvania. With the non-conference loss, Malone dropped to 15-9 on the season.
 
Recap
Merychurst took a brief lead in the bottom of the first inning on a solo homerun before Malone answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second.
 
Leading off the inning, junior designated hitter Austin White belted a solo shot to deep center to tie it up at 1-1. The homer was White's first of the season and the third of his career. Junior catcher Matt Noel, who followed White with a double, scored later in the frame on an RBI sacrifice fly by Zach Mottice to give Malone a 2-1 edge.
 
The advantage was short-lived, however, as the nationally-ranked Lakers put up six runs in the bottom half of the second inning on their way to taking a 7-2 lead.
 
Malone eventually countered with two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth. Following a walk by Mottice and a double by Nate Cobb to begin the fifth, the Pioneers made it a 7-4 game when the former scored on a wild pitch and the latter scored on an RBI groundout by Turner Hill.
 
An RBI single from Cobb an inning later cut the deficit to two, but Malone would be shut out over the final three innings while the Lakers scored twice more in their half of the seventh. In a staff day for Malone, relievers Jordan Yoder (2 IP), Trevor Beerman (1 IP), Cody Ballay (1 IP, 2 K), Christian Specht (1 IP), and Kyle Kovach (1 IP) all worked shutout innings.
 
Along with White's first-inning homer, Cobb, Hill, and Noel each collected multi-hit games to lead the Pioneer offense.
 
Up Next
The Pioneers are slated to visit Alderson Broaddus and Davis & Elkins this weekend for a pair of G-MAC road doubleheaders.