CANTON, Ohio - The Malone University baseball team was defeated 6-5 and 13-10 in the final two games of their series with Kentucky Wesleyan College on Monday. The Pioneers fall to 17-18 overall and 6-14 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play and the Panthers advance to 19-18 and 10-10 inside the G-MAC.
 
GAME ONE RECAP:
After both teams went down in order in the first, four hits and an error scored two for Kentucky Wesleyan in the top of the second. Malone was able to get out of a bases loaded jam to minimize the damage. A single by Vincent Alvarez got one back for the Pioneers, but the Panthers got out of a bases loaded situation themselves.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan extended their lead to 6-1, but Malone was not out of it yet. RBI singles from Colin Coblentz and Doran Mast cut the gap to 6-3 in the sixth and in the final inning of play, the Pioneers got even closer at 6-5. An error allowed one run to score and Jake Barker made the most of his pinch-hit appearance with an RBI single. A pitching change for the Panthers was effective and the visitors were able to hang on for the conference win.
 
Ashton Snyder (1-4) pitched the first 4.2 innings and Aydan Manning had a scoreless relief appearance over 2.1 innings of work. Seven different Pioneers recorded hits, with Mast as the lone student-athlete with multiple at 2-for-4. Mast also swiped two bags in the loss.
 
GAME TWO RECAP:
Similarly to game one, it was 2-1 Kentucky Wesleyan through two innings after a sacrifice fly off the bat of Robert Gumino. The difference however was an additional seven runs coming across to score over the next two frames. Malone responded with two runs in the fourth via a Mast two-run single and fourth in the fifth highlighted by a Gumino two-run triple.
 
It was 12-8 through six innings, but a throwing error added one more to the Panthers' total. Alvarez and Shane Coblentz drove in runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but it was not enough to fully rally and secure the win in the 13-10 defeat.
 
All nine Malone batters were credited with a hit. Barker was 3-for-5 while Ethan Petak, Zach Root, Alvarez and Gumino had two hits each. On the mound, Finn Schmitt (2-3) surrendered five earned runs in three innings as the team's starter. Josh Young made his first career collegiate appearance and did not allow an earned run in his team-high four innings.
 
UP NEXT:
After their non-conference games against West Virginia State University were canceled, Malone will be in action again on Friday, April 17 at Cedarville University. First pitch is at 1:00 P.M.