CANTON, Ohio – The Malone University softball looks to solidify their seeding in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) tournament next week with the final conference matchup of the season Friday at Cedarville University.
 
GAME INFORMATION:
Malone Pioneers (22-9-1, 13-7 G-MAC) @ Cedarville Yellow Jackets (19-15, 8-8 G-MAC)
Lady Jacket Field – Cedarville, OH (3/5 DH)
Live Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/cedarville/
Live Stats: https://yellowjackets.cedarville.edu/sidearmstats/softball/summary
 
SOFTBALL SERIES HISTORY:
Malone is 18-33 all-time versus Cedarville. The Pioneers swept the Yellow Jackets in the regular season in 2019, but were ousted by Cedarville in the G-MAC Tournament 2-0.
 
MALONE PIONEERS TEAM NOTES:
Schedule | Roster | Statistics
 
Most recently, Malone split a non-conference doubleheader versus Case Western Reserve on Tuesday, winning game one 5-1 and dropping the second 7-5. The Pioneers were haunted by six game two errors and have an opportunity to clean things up defensively before the conference championships.
 
Heading into the weekend, Malone is in fourth place in the conference standings. The Pioneers are safely into the postseason, but makeup games for other schools mean there is still a lot of jostling to do in the conference standings to determine seeding. Malone enters the final weekend of the regular season with the league's highest team batting average (.341), on-base percentage (.400) and slugging percentage (.535).
 
Seven of the team's nine hitters are above .300 and six players are over .350 on the season. Bailey Byers is the only G-MAC player above .500 at .510. She looks to be the first Malone softball player to record more hits than half the number of at-bats in a season. Between Byers and Lexi Betz, the Pioneers own five categories in the G-MAC: batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, homeruns and RBIs. Betz drove in seven on Tuesday and leads the league with 46.
 
Kelsey Byers continues to dominate in the circle, and Jensen Miller was productive as well, despite picking up her first loss on the year on Tuesday. Both of them surrendered just one earned run against Case Western Reserve and did not give up a walk in all 14 combined innings.
 
CEDARVILLE YELLOW JACKETS TEAM NOTES:
Schedule | Roster | Statistics

The Yellow Jackets entered the final weekend of the 2021 regular season with a 19-15 record, even 8-8 in G-MAC play. The Yellow Jackets swept Ohio Valley on Tuesday before facing Kentucky Wesleyan, Malone and Ohio Dominican to close the year.

Cedarville comes into games against Malone with the lowest team ERA in the G-MAC at 1.96 as a staff. Opponents bat a league-low .245 against the Yellow Jackets this season.

In the circle for Cedarville is Casey Bertke. Bertke holds the lowest ERA in the conference at a miniscule 0.97. She has allowed just 13 earned runs in just under 100 innings of work and opponents hit just above the Mendoza line versus Bertke. 

Four Yellow Jackets have a batting average above .300, led by McKenna Smith at .341. Arica Flaugher and Mariah Wallace hold the team lead with 12 extra base hits apiece. Flaugher has driven in 29 runs this season and 25 for Wallace.