April 19, 2008
|
Malone Stretches Winning Streak To 11 Games With Four Victories Over Point ParkThe Malone College baseball team kept rolling this weekend as the squad swept both of its American Mideast Conference doubleheaders with Point Park (PA) University. At Thurman Munson Stadium on Friday afternoon, Malone rallied for a 10-3 victory in the opener and then kept its momentum going in game two with a dominating 11-1 run-rule triumph. The two squads then traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon where Malone notched two more wins by final scores of 9-1 and 2-1. With the four victories, Malone, ranked #22 in the most recent NAIA Top 25 National Poll, extended its current winning streak to 11 games and improved its record to 31-9 overall with an impressive 19-3 mark in AMC play.
In Friday’s opener, Point Park (6-24 overall, 4-14 AMC) grabbed an early 3-0 advantage with a three-run homer in the top of the first inning. The score then remained unchanged until the bottom of the fifth when Malone cut the deficit to 3-2 on a RBI double by senior leftfielder Chris Mandeville (Tuslaw H.S.) and a two-out, run-scoring single by freshman infielder Justin Shiflett (Zane Trace H.S.). The hosts then took command of the contest in the bottom of the sixth inning with an eight-run outburst. Point Park retired the first two batters of the frame but the next nine Malone hitters reached base safely with two walks, one hit by pitch, and six singles. Point Park finally managed to get out of the inning on a liner to the third baseman but the visitors were unable to recover from this late-game surge, falling by the 10-3 final. Senior Zach Winkhart (Canton Central Catholic H.S.) went the distance on the mound for Malone, earning his fourth victory of the year (4-0) after limiting Point Park to three runs on four hits over seven innings of work. Eight different Malone batters recorded at least one hit in the contest as Mandeville led the way, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
Malone picked up right where it had left off in Friday’s second game, scoring ten runs over the first three innings en route to a dominating 11-1, five-inning win. Sophomore left-hander Todd Liberatore (Tusc. Central Catholic H.S.) tossed his fourth consecutive complete-game, earning the win (6-0) after limiting Point Park to one run on five hits over five innings pitched. Winkhart led the way offensively in the contest by driving home a career-high five runs with a sacrifice fly, a one-run single and a two-out, three-run double.
Despite a change of venue for Saturday’s contests, Malone’s bats continued to tee off in game one as the squad plated nine runs on 14 hits in the 9-1 win. Senior right-hander Josh McKeivier (Strasburg Franklin H.S.) started on the mound and picked up his second victory of the season (2-1) after limiting Point Park to one run on seven hits over his six innings of work. Senior shortstop Scott McIlvain (Marlington H.S.) went 3-for-5 at the plate in the contest with two runs scored and one RBI. Mandeville and junior first baseman Ryan Baechel (GlenOak H.S.) also made significant contributions as Mandeville drove in two runs with a fifth-inning single and Baechel went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one run batted in.
Unlike the first three games of the series, Saturday’s finale was a low-scoring pitcher’s duel. Malone tallied its only runs of the game on a pair of two-out, RBI singles. Senior rightfielder John Stallings (Louisville H.S.) brought the first run home in the top of the second inning and Mandeville then stretched the visitors’ advantage to 2-0 with another clutch hit in the top of the third. Point Park plated an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit in half but freshman starter Jeff Shenker (Twinsburg H.S.) and freshman reliever Bryan Bayer (Fairless H.S.) then combined to shutout the hosts over the final two innings to preserve the 2-1 victory. Shenker posted his second win of the season (2-0) after scattering four hits and striking out seven over six innings. Bayer tallied his third save after working a scoreless seventh.
|
1.800.521.1146