MINERVA, Ohio -- On Sunday afternoon the Malone University baseball program battled inclement weather, strong winds, a lack of daylight and the Hillsdale College Chargers.

Due to overnight rain the doubleheader was moved to Carl Michael Field in Minerva. Even with the benefit of playing on the turf infield surface, play still had to be stopped once in game two because of a downpour. 

The rain in the area forced play to start nearly two hours later than scheduled, and that played as factor as game two was called due to darkness. 

The Pioneers (8-11, 3-9) were walk-off winners in game one, but the Chargers (12-8, 8-4) staved off a Malone comeback attempt to take game two. 

Game 1 Highlights
Hillsdale opened up the scoring with a RBI single in the top of the 2nd, but the Pioneers responded in a huge way in the bottom half of the inning. 

Joe Watts led off the inning with an opposite field solo homerun to tie the game. Later in the inning Tyson Gingerich broke the tie with a two-RBI double that plated both Stone King and Joe Gallo. In the very next at bat Joe Crank singled into right center. Gingerich and Evan Balzano scored on the play to make it 5-1.

After a Jake Aleman single Watts stepped up to the plate again. He deposited a pitch over the scoreboard in left field for a three-run homerun to give Malone an 8-1 advantage. 

Despite the huge deficit, Hillsdale continued to fight. The Chargers scored three runs in the 4th and two more runs in 6th to move to within one run at 8-7. 

The Pioneers got an insurance run in the bottom of the 6th. Crank came through with another RBI single to bring home Andrew Hanna and put Malone on top 9-7. 

That run would prove to be crucial as Hillsdale scored two in the top of the 7th to tie the game, and force another extra inning contest. 

Danny Miller, who entered from the bullpen in the 7th inning, kept Hillsdale off the scoreboard in the 8th and 9th innings. 

With one out in the bottom of the 9th Aleman was hit by a pitch. Watts followed with his third hit of the game, a single to put two runners on. Gallo came up to bat with two outs, and he came through with a single down the third-base line to score Aleman and give the Pioneers the 10-9 win.


Game 2 Highlights
The Chargers forced Malone to play from behind in the nightcap. Hillsdale scored three runs on four hits in the top of the 1st to take an early lead. 

Aleman notched a RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to make it 3-1 after the 1st. 

The Chargers got that run right back in the top of the 2nd, but Malone rallied in their half. 

Evan Balzano singled, and Cole Maley drew a two-out walk to turn the lineup over for Gingerich. Gingerich crushed a ball over the right field fence for an opposite field homerun to tie the game at 4-4. 

Unfortunately Hillsdale answered with five runs in the top of the 3rd to make it 9-4.

JC Philippi's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 3rd made it 9-5, and neither team's offense got much going for the next couple of innings. 

Malone's best chance at a comeback came in the bottom of the 6th. The Pioneers loaded the bases, but could not push any runs across. 

The teams began to play the 7th inning, but after Hillsdale's top-half the umpires deemed it too dark to continue play and the ballgame was called. 


PIONEER POINTS

• Jake Aleman was 3-8 at the plate on the day to boost his team-leading batting average to .371. 

• Tyson Gingerich was 2-2 on stolen base attempts. He is tied for the G-MAC lead with 15 stolen bases this season. His 5 RBI day also gives him a team-best 12 RBIs on the season. 

• Danny Miller pitched 2.2 innings of relief in the first game to pick up his second win of the season. He faced 11 batters, scattered four hits, and allowed just one earned run.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Pioneers head back out on the road this weekend. Malone travels to Tiffin four a four-game G-MAC series. The series gets underway with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader on Friday.