LITTLE RIVER, S.C. – The Malone University softball team swept their opponents on the first day of their spring break trip in South Carolina on Sunday. The Pioneers (5-1) defeated Lees-McRae College (5-16) 4-3 in nine innings and disposed of West Virginia State University (6-6) by a score of 4-2.
 
MALONE vs LEES-McRAE RECAP:
Malone had extra-base hits in each of the first two innings with an Amber Miller triple in the first and Marlee Pireu double in the second; however the Pioneers went scoreless over the first four innings. The team had at least one hit in each of the first four frames. Lees-McRae drew first blood in the fourth after they utilized small ball and an RBI single.
 
It was not until the top of the sixth until Malone scratched across the game-tying run. Ella Collinsworth doubled with two outs and Madi Pukansky drove her in with a two-out base hit. A Sydney Conti RBI double in the seventh put the Pioneers in front for the first time at 2-1.
 
Pinch hitters came through clutch for the Bobcats as they would force extra innings at 2-2. With the help of the international tiebreaker rules, Pukansky was provided the opportunity to drive in a run in the top of the eighth, but Lees-McRae answered once more in the bottom half of the frame. Mia Rose drove in a run with a groundout to second base in the ninth to set herself up for the pitching win at 4-3.
 
Rose was able to record a key strikeout with one out and the tying run 60 feet from home and notched a flyout to end the extra inning affair. In total, Rose (2-1) pitched 9.0 innings and struck out eight. She allowed four hits, three runs and only two earned runs. Pukansky was 3-for-4 in the batter's box with Miller, Rose and Collinsworth at two hits apiece. Malone outhit the Bobcats 12-4.
 
MALONE vs WEST VIRGINIA STATE RECAP:
After a scoreless first inning, the Pioneers got on the board with a run in the top of the second. Aricka Young was credited with an infield single that scored Jesse Crookston to make it 1-0 Malone. On the other side of the, starting pitcher Allie Weilnau sat down nine consecutive Yellow Jackets to start the game, but the opponents scored a run with a two-out RBI single in the fourth.
 
The Pioneers answered immediately with two runs in the next half inning. Young and Lacie Quarles singled in front of Conti, who singled and Young scored on an error in the Yellow Jacket outfield. Pireu doubled down the right field line to increase the lead to 3-1. West Virginia State put two on with nobody out, but a key double play on an appeal helped to keep the Yellow Jackets off the board in the inning.
 
Collinsworth led off the sixth with a triple and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Miller. Three hits for West Virginia State plated one to make the score 4-2, but Weilnau settled in for the complete game and the win (3-0) on the mound. The senior transfer fanned eight over the seven innings and allowed seven hits and two runs with no walks.
 
Quarles reached base in three of her four plate appearances with two hits and a walk. Young and Collinsworth had multi-hit games as well.
 
UP NEXT:
Next on the schedule for Malone softball is a game against the University of Pikeville on Monday, March 10 at 5:00 P.M. followed by a matchup with Penn College at 7:00 P.M.