The Malone University baseball team survived its opening game of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship on Wednesday afternoon, topping Ohio Valley University 10-8 on a walk-off, two-run homerun by Todd Ropp in the bottom of the ninth inning. Wednesday's thriller marked the first time over the last four seasons in which Malone won its postseason opener.
The Pioneers, now 33-16 on the season, advanced to the second round of the double-elimination tournament and will face Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday.
Recap
After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning, Malone answered with a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Matt Noel. The Pioneers fell behind 4-1, however, in the top of the third when the Fighting Scots scored three runs on four hits against starter James Kontur.
Malone battled back with four runs of support over the next two innings to grab a 5-4 lead. A double squeeze bunt by Joe Crank in the third led to two runs before back-to-back doubles by Jacob Mottice and Zach Mottice put the Pioneers in front in the fourth.
The scored remained 5-4 in favor of Malone until the top of the seventh when Ohio Valley scored two unearned runs against senior lefty Jordan Yoder, who finished with four strikeouts and no earned runs allowed over 3.2 innings of outstanding relief.
Down 6-5, the Pioneers responded with three runs in the bottom of the seventh on three straight two-out RBI singles by Noel, Austin White, and Todd Ropp. Ohio Valley battled back once again with two unearned runs to tie the game at 8-8.
After an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the eighth, Malone called on sophomore Eric Mullet (9-0) to pitch the ninth. The Second Team All-Conference selection sat the Scots down in order to set up the Malone offense for the walk-off win.
Following two quick outs, Austin White reached on a base hit to bring Todd Ropp to the plate with a chance to be a hero. The senior first baseman, who was named Honorable Mention All-Conference on Tuesday night, played the role to perfection.
With the wind blowing out towards left field, Ropp smoked a pitch from OVU closer Vaughn Wiggins over the 325-foot sign in the left field corner to give Malone the 10-8 walk-off win. Ropp's bench-clearing bomb was fourth homer of the season.
While Ropp finished with two hits and three RBI, Austin White and Nate Cobb each collected a team-high three hits on the afternoon.
Midwest Region Rankings
As Malone was pulling off the thrilling victory on Wednesday, the NCAA released its Midwest Region Rankings. The Pioneers dropped three spots from six to nine. The top eight teams advance to the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
Up Next
The Pioneers will meet Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday at 3:15 pm on Legacy Field at Prasco Park. The Panthers defeated Findlay with a walk-off homer of their own against Findlay.
