Junior catcher
Matt Noel delivered a walk-off RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Malone University baseball team a 3-2 victory over the University of Findlay in game one of a three-game series Saturday afternoon at Jackson High School. With the win, Malone improved to 29-14 overall and 15-7 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, climbing into third place in the
G-MAC Standings.
Recap
It was the Oilers (20-12, 13-7 G-MAC) who struck first in the top of the first, plating a run against Malone starting pitcher
Roscoe Blackburn to take a 1-0 lead. That one-run lead would hold until the bottom of the third.
Following a leadoff triple by
Zach Mottice down the right field line,
Turner Hill turned a squeeze play into an RBI bunt single that tied the game at 1-1. Malone took its first lead of the game three innings later when
Matt Noel drove in
Austin White, who singled to lead off the frame, with a double to the gap in left center.
The Oilers tied it at 2-2 on a two-out RBI triple in the top of the seventh, but were sat down in order in each of the next three innings. The Pioneers had runners on first and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, but they, too, came up scoreless. Despite putting a runner on in each of the eighth and ninth innings, Malone was held off the board as the game was forced into extras.
With one out in the bottom of the 10th,
Austin White's double down the left field line set up the Pioneers for their late heroics. Following a three-pitch strikeout by G-MAC Pitcher of the Week Josh Robinson,
Matt Noel stepped up with the chance to end it. Facing a 1-1 count, Noel lined a single into center to score pinch-runner
Andy Fletcher, sending the Malone bench into a frenzy and giving the Pioneers the walk-off win.
Noel finished with a season-high three hits and a pair of RBI. White and Mottice each collected two hits.
Roscoe Blackburn pitched all 10 innings in a gutsy complete game effort as he picked up his G-MAC-leading 8th win of the season. The senior southpaw needed only 109 pitches, allowing just two runs while striking out seven Oilers in the victory.
Up Next
Malone and Findlay will play a doubleheader to finish off the series Sunday beginning at 1:00 pm.