In its next to last day of Baseball Week at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, the Malone University baseball team posted a 1-1 record Friday afternoon at Alfond Stadium. In the opener, Malone topped Assumption College (MA) 15-0. Then in the nightcap against host Rollins College, the Pioneers fell 11-4. With the split, Malone now stands at 9-5 overall this season.
 
Malone vs. Assumption Recap
Just days after defeating Assumption 4-3 in 17 innings earlier this week, Malone unloaded on the Greyhounds for a season-high 15 runs on 17 hits in the nine-inning victory.  All nine Pioneers in the starting lineup had at least one hit and scored a run.
 
Malone got things going with three runs in the bottom of the second, scoring the game's first run on a sacrifice fly by Bryan Yoder and two more on a single by Tyson Gingerich. In the bottom of the third, Jacob Mottice singled in a run and Clay Wisner tripled in another to make it 5-0. The Pioneers plated four more runs in the fourth, scoring twice off the bat of Matt Noel and twice more on a double by Josh Haygood.
 
Leading 9-0, Malone tacked on three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings. Gingerich plated a run with a single in the seventh and would score on a two-run single by Turner Hill three pitches later. A two-run triple by Yoder followed by an RBI double from Zach Mottice completed the scoring for Malone in the eighth.
 
Zach Mottice, who doubled twice and scored twice, and Wisner, who scored three times, led the offense with three hits each. Gingerich and Jacob Mottice, who both scored two runs, Hill, Haygood, and Austin White all finished with two hits apiece.
 
Not lost in all the offense was a brilliant performance by junior starting pitcher Christian Specht, who pitched a career-high eight innings. Specht (1-1) surrendered just four hits and no walks while striking out a career-high eight batters. Senior reliever Anthony Stillwagon struck out the side in the top of the ninth to preserve the shutout.
 
Malone vs. Rollins Recap
In a back-and-forth game early on, Matt Noel put the Pioneers on top in the road half of the first inning with an RBI single, but the Tars scored a run in each of the next two innings to take a 2-1 lead.
 
In the top of the third, Malone tied it on an RBI groundout by Noel, but again Rollins responded, scoring a run for the third straight inning to go back in front.
 
The Pioneers tied it at 3-3 in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from Clay Wisner before Rollins scored six unanswered runs over the next four innings, including three on a bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the seventh, to break the game open.
 
Malone tacked on its final run in the top of the eighth on a bases-loaded RBI single by Cade Mottice. Rollins scored twice more in the bottom of the frame and then shut-out Malone in the ninth to finish off the 11-4 victory.
 
Tyson Gingerich led Malone with three hits, including a double. Turner Hill added a two-bagger.
 
Up Next
The Pioneers close out their spring break trip on Saturday morning with a 10:00 am matchup against Nyack College.