AKRON, Ohio -- The Malone University baseball program was back at home on Friday afternoon. The Pioneers hosted the Ohio Dominican University Panthers at Canal Park, the home of the Akron Rubberducks, the MiLB AA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. 

A pair of upperclassman pitchers hurled Malone (10-15, 5-13 G-MAC) to a 3-1 victory in game one. ODU (14-6, 6-6) bounced back with a 10-7 win in the second game to split the doubleheader. 

Game 1 Highlights
One of the constants over the last few weeks for the Pioneers has been southpaw Clay Cooper getting the game one start. Friday afternoon was no different. Another constant has been Cooper turning in solid performances. Once again, Friday was no different. 

The Panthers managed just one run in the contest, a RBI groundout in the top of the 3rd inning. 

Malone answered that run in the bottom of the 4th with a RBI double off the bat of Joe Gallo. JC Philippi, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, scored on the play to tie the game at 1-1. 

Cooper pitched two more scoreless innings before turning the ball over to Clyde Yoder in the 7th inning. Yoder picked right up where Cooper left off, retiring the side in order in the 7th. 

In the bottom half of the inning the Pioneers got the run support they needed to pull out a win. 

Malone loaded the bases on back-to-back singles from Andrew Hanna and Tyson Gingerich as well as a walk by Jake Aleman. ODU went to the bullpen, but things did not change much. 

Joe Watts and Bryan Yoder both drew bases loaded walks to pick up RBIs, and put Malone on top 3-1. 

Yoder retired the final six Panthers in order to earn his second victory of the season.


Game 2 Highlights
The second game of the doubleheader featured much more offense on both sides.

The Panthers scored at least one run in all but one of the innings. The Pioneers got on the scoreboard in every inning but two. Unfortunately Malone's late comeback attempt came up short.

ODU went up 4-0 midway through the 2nd inning. 

Stone King led off the bottom of the 2nd with a double. In the very next at bat Philippi singled to bring home King and make it a 4-1 game. Later in the inning Philippi came around to score on a Gingerich single to cut the deficit down to two. 

The Panthers got both of those runs back in the top of the 3rd, but MU countered with one run in the 3rd and another in the 4th to put the score at 6-4. 

Joe Watts went opposite field for his team-leading fourth homerun of the year in the 3rd. After Joe Gallo hit a one-out triple in the 4th, Hanna came through with a sacrifice fly. 

Unfortunately for the Pioneers ODU did not let up. In the top of the 5th inning the Panthers stretched their lead out to 8-4. 

Stone King got another RBI on a groundout in the 5th to make it 8-5, but Ohio Dominican got the run back on an error in the 6th. 

Malone's best chance at a comeback came in the bottom of the 6th inning. 

Three straight singles from Clayton Criss, Gallo and Hanna loaded the bases for the Pioneers to start things off. Criss scored on a sacrifice fly by Gingerich to make it 9-6. Jake Aleman drew a walk to put the tying run on base.

With the go-ahead run at the plate in back-to-back at bats the Panthers' outfield made a pair of phenomenal defensive plays to rob both Bryan Yoder and Joe Watts of huge hits. Yoder's at-bat went down as a sacrifice fly as Gallo was able to score, but 9-7 was as close as Malone got. 

ODU got an insurance run in the top of the 7th, and then blanked the Pioneers in the bottom half to secure the win.

PIONEER POINTS

• Clyde Yoder's appearance out of the bullpen in game one was his first outing since March 13. His final line in the first game was 3.0 innings pitched, 6 strikeouts, and 0 runs allowed.

• Tyson Gingerich was 4-8 at the plate on the afternoon to push his batting average out to .359. He also had a pair of stolen bases in the first game, and is now second in the G-MAC with 19 on the season.

• The Pioneers tied their season high with two triples in the second game. Gingerich and Gallo had the three-baggers for Malone.

• Clayton Criss made his first career start in game two, and came through with the first hit of his collegiate career.

WHAT'S NEXT?
These two teams return to Canal Park tomorrow afternoon to wrap up the series with another doubleheader. First pitch is game one has been moved up to 12:00 p.m. to avoid the threat of inclement weather late tomorrow evening.