CANTON, Ohio – The Malone University softball team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday afternoon before a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) doubleheader against Lake Erie College. Bailey Byers was honored pre-game for the accomplishments of her four-year career.


 
Game one on Saturday went extra innings after a ferocious comeback effort by the Pioneers (17-8-1, 11-7 G-MAC), but in nine innings, the Lake Erie Storm (9-24, 4-8 G-MAC) claimed a 6-5 victory. Malone recorded a win in game two, 10-6.
 
GAME ONE RECAP:
Kelsey Byers tossed a 1-2-3 top of the first inning and Bailey Byers got her own senior day party started with a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the first inning. She hit a double in the bottom of the third for her second extra base hit to break a spell of seven consecutive outs for the Pioneers, but the score remained 1-0 until the top of the fourth.
 
A two RBI double for Lake Erie gave the Storm a slight lead in the middle innings. A pair of extra base hits in the fifth allowed two more to come across for Lake Erie to make it 4-1. Malone put a runner in scoring position in the fourth (April Howser), fifth (Mackenzie Frantz) and sixth (Howser again), but could not bring any across with a timely base hit.
 
A two-out single from the Storm in the seventh gave them a four-run cushion going into the final at-bats for Malone in the bottom of the seventh, but the Pioneers would not go quietly.
 
Mackenzie Frantz led off the inning with a single, and after a flyout, the floodgates opened for Malone. Bailey Byers drew a walk, making it first and second for Erika Johnson. Johnson deposited a ball into the outfield grass that scored one, and a throwing error allowed Byers to come around as well and Johnson advanced to third. Lexi Betz tacked an RBI double on to her ledger to put the tying run in scoring position, and April Howser ripped an RBI single down the left field line to knot things up at five.
 
No runs came across in the eighth inning, but in the ninth, Lake Erie pushed themselves in front with an RBI double that would not be countered by the Pioneers in the 6-5 extra innings loss.
 
GAME TWO RECAP:
Lake Erie scored right away in the top of the first of game number two on Saturday, with two runs on three base hits. Malone countered with two of their own in the bottom half. Bailey Byers tripled to right field and scored on a wild pitch. Erika Johnson followed suit with an extra base hit of her own, a double to left. Lexi Betz hit a single that moved Johnson to third, and a double play ball with no one out in the inning allowed the tying run to score.
 
The Storm batted around in the top of the second, with four runs scoring in the inning. The score remained that way until the third inning, when Lexi Betz hit a two-run blast down the left field line to cut the deficit in half, 6-4.
 
After a perfect frame from Jensen Miller in relief, Malone relied on what has given them success all season: the big bats of Bailey Byers and Lexi Betz. Byers hit a double to right field that scored Emily Betts and Lexi Betz gave the Pioneers an 8-6 lead on her second homerun of the game, this time a three-run bomb to center field.
 
Malone added two insurance runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning on RBI singles by April Howser and Elizabeth Dyke. Jensen Miller came on to finish the game after pitching a majority of game two and got her first win of the season.
 
PIONEER POINTS:

• On her senior day, Bailey Byers reached base three times in each game, going 2-for-4 with a walk in game one and 3-for-4 in game two. Byers tallied 12 total bases, five runs scored and two runs driven in.
• Lexi Betz hit two homeruns in game two, her fourth and fifth longballs of the week. In total, Betz went 6-for-9 on the day, including a 4-for-4 game two. Betz drove in six while scoring four times herself.
• April Howser and Erika Johnson had multiple hits in both games on Saturday. The top of the order combined to score 13 of the 15 Pioneer runs.
• Pitchers Kelsey Byers and Jensen Miller combined to throw all 16 innings. Byers went 10 innings and struck out eight, while Miller faned three in six innings of work in the win.

 
UP NEXT:
Non-conference games against Salem University on Monday have been cancelled, so Malone will play next on Tuesday in a home non-conference doubleheader versus Carlow University. First pitch from Pioneer Softball Field will take place at 3 pm.