HILLSDALE, Mich. - The Malone University baseball team earned a series split with the Hillsdale College Chargers on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers, now 13-9 overall and 3-5 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), dropped the first game of the day to the 9-12 and 5-3 Chargers by a score of 6-4 and won a 15-inning contest by a score of 8-6.
 
GAME ONE RECAP:
Reilly Tyna scored in the top of the first after he singled as the leadoff hitter to go up 1-0, but Hillsdale put up three in the second to claim the lead. Back-to-back hits by Jake Barker and Ethan Petak set up a second run for the Pioneers in the fourth and each team netted one run apiece. An RBI single from Doran Mast in the sixth got Malone back to even at 4-4.
 
Hillsdale was able to manufacture two runs in the bottom of the sixth and set themselves up to take the first game of the doubleheader. It was not without an elevated heart rate in the Charger dugout after the Pioneers loaded the bases with one out. Consecutive singles from Tyna and Shane Coblentz and a walk by Zach Root filled the bags, but Hillsdale was able to work their way out of it with a strikeout and flyout.
 
Tyna reached base in all four plate appearances and was 3-for-3 with a walk. Coblentz reached base three times with one hit and a pair of walks. Root and Petak had extra-base hits with one double each. Coblentz (3-2) threw a complete game on the bump and struck out three over the course of his six innings of work.
 
GAME TWO RECAP:
Efficient pitching was evident on both sides and after nine innings, neither team had drawn blood with a run. For Malone, Ashton Snyder received the start and went eight innings where he allowed just five hits, four walks and fanned three. In the fifth, the Pioneers loaded the bases, but could not scratch across the go-ahead run.
 
Robert Gumino drove in the first run of the game in the 10th when he doubled to score Charlie Roberts as the runner placed on second. Hillsdale was able to do the same on their first opportunity in extra innings. A Petak RBI single, Mast RBI double and a wild pitch gave Malone three runs in the 11th, but once again the Chargers hitters came up clutch and forced a 12th frame.
 
The teams each scored one in the 12th and 13th innings thanks to a sacrifice fly by Tyna and a wild pitch by the Hillsdale reliever. In the 14th, both sides were held scoreless and finally in the 15th inning, one side was able to prevail. Root uncorked a two-run double to go up 8-6 in the inning and Aydan Manning (1-1) settled in and got the final three outs needed for the win.
 
Manning tossed 4.1 innings all told and the only two runs to score were unearned thanks to the runner placement. Petak and Gumino were the lone individuals with multiple hits for the offense.
 
UP NEXT:
Malone returns home for a non-conference game against familiar foe, Lake Erie College, on March 24. First pitch at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium will be at 12:00 P.M.