WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Malone University baseball team got back in the win column at 7-6 overall with a 12-2 triumph over Bloomfield College (0-9) in eight innings.
 
The Pioneers kicked off the game with a bang on a three-run homerun from Jake Barker. Malone would add another three spot in the second to go up 6-0. Eric Baum doubled and Anthony Bartiromo drove him in on a triple in the next at-bat. He would score on a wild pitch and Anthony Ryan added an RBI double in the frame as well.
 
An Allen Diaz RBI single in the third plated a run aided by a Bloomfield error to extend the lead to 7-0. The teams each scored one in the fourth with a Zach Flohr sacrifice fly for the Pioneers. The Bears tacked on another run in the fifth, but Malone responded with three in the bottom half of the inning. A two-run homerun off the bat of Diaz was the highlight of the inning.
 
Malone would be stuck on that number for two innings despite loading the bases in the seventh. Bloomfield was able to get the outs they needed to get to the next inning, however in the eighth three straight walks and a walk-off groundout by Bartiromo gave the Pioneers the run-rule victory, 12-2.
 
All nine batters had hits and the team had 16 in total. Ryan led the way in a 4-for-5 day. Barker, Diaz and Bartiromo had three RBIs apiece. On the mound, Finn Schmidt received the win (1-1) after he went 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on two hits and five walks. He struck out a team-high six batters. The bullpen of TJ Curry, Kai Duda and Tyler Jackson went three combined hitless innings. Curry had a 1-2-3 sixth and Jackson struck out three in the eighth.
 
Play concludes for Malone at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Tuesday, March 11 with a 4:45 P.M. contest versus the University of Minnesota Duluth.