TIFFIN, Ohio -- Saturday afternoon the Malone University baseball program returned to Herminger Field on the campus of Tiffin University to wrap up their weekend series with the Dragons. 

Tiffin (13-6, 8-4 G-MAC) took the first game of the doubleheader 12-1. Malone (9-14, 4-12) fought hard for the split in game two, but their late comeback efforts ultimately fell short in a 10-7 loss. 

Game 1 Highlights
The Pioneers got on the scoreboard first when Bryan Yoder singled in the top of the 1st to bring home Tyson Gingerich.

Freshman Cooper Davies got the starting nod on the mound, and he was nearly untouchable early on. The right-hander had five strikeouts through the first two innings. 

Unfortunately the Dragons' bats broke through in the 3rd. Tiffin plated six runs on three hits and two Malone errors. 

TU added four more runs in the 5th inning, and two in the 6th to win game three of the series 12-1. 


Game 2 Highlights
The Pioneers regrouped, and got out to a hot start in game two. Gingerich singled to lead off the game, and Jake Aleman followed with double to put two runners in scoring position. 

Later in the inning Stone King came through with a sacrifice fly to score Gingerich, and Aleman came home on a RBI double by Evan Balzano. 

Tiffin answered right back in their half of the inning however. The Dragons put up three runs on four hits to take a 3-2 lead.

TU added to that lead in the 2nd inning to move ahead 4-2. 

In the top of the 5th inning Malone's offensive came through to tie the game. The Pioneers loaded the bases on walks by Joe Watts and Balzano as well as a single by King. JC Philippi followed with a two-RBI single to tie the game at 4-4. 

Tiffin erupted for five more runs in the 7th, but Malone made things interesting in the top of the 8th. 

With two runners on Gingerich tripled into left centerfield scoring both Josh Salinas and Boston Black. Aleman's RBI groundout allowed Gingerich to score and cut the deficit down to 9-7. 

Unfortunately the Dragons got one of those runs back in their half of the 8th, and held on to the 10-7 lead in the top of the 9th to finish off the doubleheader sweep.

PIONEER POINTS

• Tyson Gingerich had another strong day at the plate, particularly in the second game. He was 3-4, scored two runs, and had two RBIs. He now leads the team with a .345 average on the season. His 24 runs scored is third-best in the conference. 

• Pioneer pitchers combined to strike out 13 Tiffin batters in the doubleheader. As a staff Malone has 195 punchouts on the season. They trail Hillsdale by just four strikeouts for the top spot in the G-MAC.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Pioneers return home next weekend. Malone will host Ohio Dominican University for a four-game series April 9 and 10. The entire series will be played at Canal Park in Akron. Canal Park is the home stadium of the Cleveland Indians' AA affiliate, the Akron Rubberducks.