The Malone College softball team dropped two American Mideast Conference North Division home games on Saturday afternoon to Carlow (PA) University by the final scores of 3-2 and 2-1.  In both of the contests, the visiting Celtics jumped out to an early lead before the Pioneers fought back in the late innings.  Malone was unable to complete the comeback in either game, though, coming up one run short in both contests.  Following Saturday’s doubleheader, the Pioneers’ record now stands at 6-6 overall with a 0-4 mark in AMC North play.  Carlow, meanwhile, improved to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in the division with the pair of victories.

 

In game one, the Celtics scored once in the top of the first inning and two more times in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead.  Malone then got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth as freshman infielder Sarah Kosmos (Northwest H.S.) scored from first base on a two-out double by sophomore right-fielder Laura Blackburn (Thomas Worthington H.S.).  The Pioneers then tacked on another run in the bottom of the seventh as freshman outfielder Elizabeth Sarkissian (Twinsburg H.S.) delivered a two-out, RBI single.  Malone then put runners on first and second base with two outs, but was unable to bring the tying run home as Carlow held on for the 3-2 win.  Freshman starting pitcher Jessica Krska (Norton H.S.) started on the mound and suffered her first loss of the year (2-1) after surrendering three unearned runs on six hits over four innings pitched.  The Pioneers registered five hits in the contest as Blackburn went 2-3 at the plate with an RBI while freshman catcher Laura Ronk (St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S.) also went 2-3 with a triple and one run scored.

 

Saturday’s second contest remained scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when Carlow plated a pair of runs to take a 2-0 advantage.  Malone cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth as senior centerfielder Ashlee Locker (Strasburg H.S.) doubled, advanced to third on an error and then stole home.  However, the Pioneers were unable to manufacture any more runs over the final two innings, falling by the 2-1 final.  Junior starting pitcher Ashleigh Ralston (Wadsworth H.S.) went the distance on the mound for Malone, suffering the loss (3-3) after giving up two runs on six hits over seven innings of work.  The Pioneers posted six hits in the contest, but did not record more than one base hit in any of the seven innings.

 

This week, Malone (6-6 overall, 0-4 AMC North) will host Ursuline College (1-5 overall, 0-2 AMC North) on Thursday in a 4:00 p.m. doubleheader before traveling to Point Park (PA) University (5-5 overall, 0-0 AMC North) on Saturday for two more games starting at 1:00 p.m.