The Malone University baseball team opened up the first of two games on Monday during "Baseball Week" at Rollins College with a 9-2 loss to Florida Tech. Seventeen innings and over 450 pitches later, the Pioneers earned a 4-3 triumph against Assumption College (MA) to salvage the split in their second game of the day. With the 1-1 record on Monday, Malone is now 6-4 on the season.
Malone vs. Florida Tech Recap
The Panthers did all of their damage in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, piling up nine runs on 11 hits. The Pioneers, meanwhile, did not get a hit until the top of the sixth when freshman Floridian
Josh Haygood led off the frame with a single.
Florida native
Ivan Zamora collected his first collegiate base hit, a double, in the later innings, as did
Steven Tome who singled in the eighth. Tome scored on
Josh Haygood's first collegiate homerun, a two-run shot to right, accounting for Malone's only offense.
Freshman relievers
Doug Belanger, another Florida native, and
Brady Bohanon each recorded their first collegiate strikeouts in the loss.
Malone vs. Assumption Recap
In a game that lasted nearly four-and-a-half hours, Malone struck first in the top of the third when an Assumption error, a double by
Zach Mottice, and an RBI single from
Tyson Gingerich plated the first run. The Greyhounds answered with three straight two-out singles in the bottom of the fourth, however, to tie it.
In the top of the eight, Malone went back in front when
Josh Haygood led off the inning with a single, stole second, and came in to score on a failed pickoff attempt.
The Pioneers would take their 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but an error, a sac bunt, and an RBI single forced extra innings.
Malone went down in order in each of the next three innings before plating a run in the top of the 13th. Haygood reached base on an error to lead off the inning and eventually came around to score on
Clay Wisner's RBI single. In the bottom half of the frame, though, Assumption used a lead-off double, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly to even the score once again at 3-3.
Four innings later, a one-out single by
Andrew Hanna, the first hit of his career, sparked a rally. After a Greyhound error placed runners on first and third, Haygood lined the first pitch he saw through the left side of the infield for the go-ahead RBI.
In the bottom of the 17th, sophomore reliever
Alex Widmer worked around a lead-off walk to retire the next three batters and secure the marathon victory in front of an excited and relieved Pioneer bench.
Widmer (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the decision. Starting pitcher
Tommy Walker was fantastic over a career-high seven innings, striking out four and giving up just one run in the no-decision.
Tyrus Jones may have been even better, allowing just three baserunners and one run over six innings of relief. Jones struck out a career-high six.
At the plate, Haygood finished with two hits, two runs scored, and the game-winning RBI,
Clay Wisner added two hits, including a double. Assumption, which used only three pitchers over the 17 innings, committed seven errors in the wild affair.
The 17-inning contest was the longest in Division II this season and Malone's longest game since 2015 when they went 18 innings with Ashland.
Up Next
The Pioneers are off on Tuesday and will return to the diamond on Wednesday, March 6th for a 6:00 pm game against Eckerd College.
