CANTON, Ohio – The Malone University baseball team recorded a shutout of West Virginia State University on Wednesday afternoon in a non-conference afternoon affair at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium. The Pioneers (12-20) won over the Yellow Jackets (14-16) by a score of 2-0.
Malone shared the love on the mound with three pitchers that worked three innings apiece.
Cole Miller received the start and opened the game strong. The freshman gave way to
TJ Curry for the middle portion of the game and junior
Ayden Hall was called on to nab his first save of 2025.
At the plate, sophomore
Jake Barker was a perfect 3-for-3 and he drew a walk. Senior
Anthony Bartiromo reached base four times as well with two hits and twice was hit by a pitch. Seniors
Eric Baum and
Zach Flohr each reached base twice with one hit and one walk, highlighted by an RBI single from Flohr.
West Virginia State had traffic in the first two innings, but a strikeout and caught stealing double play ended the second without any harm. A baserunning miscue prevented the Pioneers from scoring after Barker and Bartiromo led off the frame with base hits. A pair of two out base knocks for the Yellow Jackets allowed the opponents to threaten yet again, but Miller recorded the final out to get out of the jam unscathed.
In the bottom of the fourth, Malone loaded the bases and scored their first run of the game on a wild pitch. A key strikeout for West Virginia State limited the damage to just a single run in the inning. A throwing error on a pick-off attempt by the Yellow Jackets in the seventh led to an unearned insurance run when Baum scored on a Flohr single through the left side of the infield.
Hall surrounded singles in the seventh and ninth innings, but settled in to complete the 2-0 game. The pitching staff combined for seven strikeouts, three by Miller and two apiece from Curry and Hall. Curry retired all nine batters he faced to pick up the win (1-0).
The Pioneers open up a four-game Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) series with Cedarville University starting on Friday, April 11 at 10:00 A.M.
