FLORENCE, Ky. - The Malone University baseball team split its second doubleheader against the Thomas More University Saints, losing 7-6 in game one and winning 14-6 in game two. The Pioneers are now 21-23 on the year, while the Saints move to 17-26. In the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), both Malone and Thomas More stand at 10-18 in conference play.

GAME ONE RECAP:
Malone opened the game with early offense in the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead after Colin Coblentz was hit by a pitch, Doran Mast singled, and Reilly Tyna had an RBI to right field. Thomas More answered back in the bottom of the inning, tying the game 1-1.
 
The Pioneers took the lead back in the third inning when Jake Barker delivered an RBI double to send Tyna across home plate. The Saints later responded with a four-run bottom of the third, using Malone's error and timely hitting to take a 5-2 lead. 
 
Malone kept fighting in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Charlie Roberts and Robert Gumino opened the inning with back-to-back singles before Colin Coblentz brought in a run on a groundout. Tyna added a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-4. The Pioneers regained the lead in the fifth inning when Mast came through with a two-run single up the middle to put Malone ahead 6-5. 
 
Thomas More tied the game in the bottom of the fifth and later scored the winning run in the seventh, handing the Pioneers a 7-6 loss for game one. Shane Coblentz (5-4) took the mound for the Pioneers in the game one loss, recording five strikeouts over the course of 6.1 innings.

GAME TWO RECAP:
Malone started game two strong with three runs in the top of the first inning. Colin Coblentz opened the game with a double and Tyna followed with an RBI single to score one. Justin Fuller later added a sacrifice fly and Rafe Bonifay drove in another run with a single to give the Pioneers an early 3-0 lead. 
 
After Thomas More answered back to take a 4-3 lead, Malone tied the ballgame in the second inning when Barker recorded an RBI down the left field line. The game stayed even through the middle innings, with Malone's defense and pitching keeping Thomas More off the board from the second through the sixth.
 
The Pioneers turned on the jets in the sixth inning with Vincent Alvarez delivering a three-run triple to give Malone a 7-4 lead. Malone added four more runs in the eighth, with an Alvarez RBI double, Bonifay's two-run single, and a single RBI by Roberts for an 11-5 lead for the Pioneers. 
 
Malone continued the pressure in the ninth, as Colin Coblentz homered to right field and Alvarez drove in two more runs with a single. The Pioneers finished off a 14-6 victory over the Saints in the series finale. Finn Schmitt (3-3) started on the mound for the Pioneers and got the win with a season-high eight strikeouts in five innings.
 
UP NEXT:
The Malone University baseball team will travel back to Thurman Munson Stadium to host the Ohio Dominican University Panthers for a G-MAC doubleheader beginning on May 1 at 10:00 A.M.