CANTON, Ohio – The Malone University softball team kicked off the 2021 season with a non-conference doubleheader at home against Rochester University in Michigan. In game one, Kelsey Byers shined in the circle, throwing five innings of perfect softball in a 9-0 Malone win mercy-rule victory. The 15 up, 15 down performance is believed to be the first ever perfect game thrown in Malone softball history. Game two ended in a 7-7 tie due to darkness.
 
The Pioneers will travel to Myrtle Beach for their spring trip later this week with a 1-0-1 overall record. Rochester University falls to 0-1-1.
 
GAME ONE RECAP:
Kelsey Byers struck out two in the first to begin her campaign for perfection. Three consecutive base hits by April Howser (triple), Megan Labut (single) and Lexi Betz (double) drove in two for the home team to give Byers an early cushion.
 
Byers struck out two more in the top of the second inning and her sister Bailey Byers brought in Lauren Bennett with a two out single to right to make it 3-0.
 
Kelsey Byers helped herself with a defensive play in the third on a bunt try by the Warriors, and the play was finished off at first by the second baseman Bennett. Byers recorded her seventh K to end the inning.
 
In the bottom of the third, the Pioneers put up a crooked number and brought 10 hitters to the dish. The first four Malone hitters reached base from two singles, an error, and the first hit as a Pioneer from Mikayla Kesel, a two RBI double. Lauren Bennett ripped a double into left center field a few batters later to bring Kesel in to score. Malone tacked on another run with a two-out error to make it 8-0.
 
Byers recorded two more strikeouts in the fourth before the Pioneers struck for one more in the bottom half of the inning. With a mercy-rule victory and perfect game at stake, Kelsey Byers went 1-2-3 in the fifth with two punchouts.
 
GAME TWO RECAP:
Despite a 5-3 double play from April Howser and Emily Betts, Rochester plated two unearned runs in the first. Malone put two runners on in the bottom half, but failed to answer with a run or two of their own. The Warriors added three more in the top of the second thanks in part to a two-run homerun by Francesca Madona.
 
An error and a pair of walks in the bottom of the second sparked the Pioneers offense in the game. With the bases loaded, Bailey Byers grounded a two-run single through the gap into left field and Erika Johnson followed that up with an inside-the-park homerun down the left field line that tied the game at five. It is Johnson's second career homerun.
 
Rochester manufactured two more runs in the top of the fourth with the help of three singles. In the bottom of the fifth, Malone responded with two runs of their own. A one-out double to left field by Emily Spada, the freshman's first career hit, brought home Kesel from second base and Bailey Byers brought home the seventh run of the game for the Pioneers with a two-out single.
 
The teams went out for the top of the sixth inning, but the game was called due to darkness and the final results were pulled from the final completed inning, which was the fifth.
 
PIONEER POINTS:

• Kelsey Byers tossed a complete game with no base runners allowed in 5.0 innings pitched in game one and struck out nine hitters. Byers picked up her first win of the season in her perfect performance.
• Lauren Bennett was 2-for-3 in game one with one RBI and two runs scored. In the second contest, Bennett reached base three times with two hits and a walk. Bennett recorded two doubles and stole a base in her only attempt.
• Bailey Byers drove in four total runs and was 4-for-7 on the afternoon from the leadoff position.
• April Howser was 3-for-5 with a walk. She recorded her first career three-bagger in her first at-bat of the 2021 season.
• Outfielders Erika Johnson and Mikayla Kesel had three RBIs apiece and Kesel scored three times.

 
UP NEXT:
The Pioneers will compete in the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. First up for Malone will be a doubleheader versus Rio Grande on Wednesday, March 10. First pitch will be at 11 am.