HILLSDALE, Michigan – In a couple of exciting games on Monday, the Malone University softball team split a doubleheader at Hillsdale College. Both games came down to the final hitter, as the Chargers took game one 5-3 and the Pioneers held off Hillsdale to win game two 9-7.
 
Bailey Byers slugged three homeruns (all of them solo shots) to give her a team-high eight round trips.
 
Malone has a record of 14-7-1 and are 8-6 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. Hillsdale's win and loss places them at 20-12 overall and 8-2 in the conference.
 
GAME ONE RECAP:
April Howser recorded an RBI double in the top of the first to score Erika Johnson, who reached on a walk earlier in the inning. A two-out homerun from the Chargers negated the early advantage.
 
Bailey Byers hit a homerun of her own to leadoff the third inning to reclaim the lead at 2-1. Lexi Betz added on with a ball over the center field fence to make it 3-1 Malone. Once again, the Chargers answered in the bottom half of the inning, this time by way of a Pioneer error, but Malone held the lead at 3-2.
 
Back-to-back hits from Hillsdale in the bottom of the fifth tied the game up at three. Pioneer pitcher Kelsey Byers was able to navigate her way through traffic on the basepaths in the fifth and sixth innings, and kept the score where it was.
 
Emily Betts singled into right field to put a baserunner on in the top of the seventh inning, but to no avail. Unfortunately, the Chargers were able to lift a walk-off homerun into center field to claim the 5-3 victory in game one.
 
GAME TWO RECAP:
Just as she did in two previous games this season, Bailey Byers stepped up to the plate as the first hitter of the game and led it off with a homerun to give Malone an immediate 1-0 lead. In Hillsdale's game two first plate appearances, the Chargers batted around and plated four runs.
 
The Pioneers would not be down for long, however, as they put up a four spot of their own in the top of the second. Malone loaded the bases with nobody out in the form of an Elizabeth Dyke single and walks by Lauren Bennett and Amber Burick. Emily Betts hit into a fielder's choice, but brought home Dyke from third on the play. Bailey Byers and Erika Johnson turned the lineup over with base knocks that drove in three total runs to make it 5-4 Pioneers.
 
The high octane offense continued in the bottom of the second, when the Chargers plated two more and reclaimed the lead, 6-5.
 
Malone recorded another crooked number in the fourth with a three-run frame. With runners on first and third, Erika Johnson brought in the tying run in Emily Betts with a groundout to third base. Lexi Betz drove in Bailey Byers in the next at-bat with a single to center field. Betz, April Howser and Mikayla Kesel all reached base with one out, and Elizabeth Dyke scored Malone's eighth run in the game on a fielder's choice.
 
A relay from Emily Betts to Lauren Bennett to Bailey Byers at the plate cut down a run for the Chargers in the bottom of the fourth and kept the game at 8-6.
 
The team's traded solo shots in the fifth, with Bailey Byers connecting on her third homerun of the day, to get to the final score of 9-7. It was not without theatrics, however, as Kelsey Byers worked out of a bases loaded situation in the final inning to secure the win.
 
PIONEER POINTS:

• The power surge of Bailey Byers continued on Monday. She has hit six homeruns in the last week and leads the team with eight in 2021. Byers was a perfect 4-for-4 in game two with three RBIs and four runs scored.
• Seven different players recorded hits in the game two win, with multiple hits from Bailey Byers, Erika Johnson and Elizabeth Dyke. Byers and Johnson each drove in three runs in the victory.
• Emily Betts was 2-for-3 in game one with two singles and reached base on a walk in game two.
• Kelsey Byers struck out seven in game one and threw a full seven innings in the game two road win.

 
UP NEXT:
Malone's non-conference games versus Gannon University set for Tuesday, April 13 have been postponed and a make-up date has not been announced. The Pioneers return to their home field this weekend with doubleheader G-MAC contests against Ursuline College and Lake Erie College on Friday, April 16 and Saturday, April 17. Saturday's games will also be Senior Day.