The Malone College baseball team extended its winning streak to 13 games on Tuesday afternoon by sweeping both games of its American Mideast Conference home twinbill with Mount Vernon Nazarene University.  The Pioneers won a back-and-forth battle 9-8 in the opener and then tallied a 5-0 triumph in the nightcap as junior right-handed starting pitcher Adam Boudler (Louisville H.S.) tossed an eight-hit shutout.  Following the pair of victories, Malone’s record now stands at 33-9 overall with an impressive 21-3 mark in the AMC.

 

Mount Vernon Nazarene (23-15 overall, 12-8 AMC) pulled out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning of game one with a sacrifice fly and a towering three-run homer by third baseman Richey Burgos.  Malone responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame and then took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run single by junior catcher Jon Lutton (Louisville H.S.).  A MVNU RBI groundout knotted the score at 5-5 in the top of the fifth but Malone answered back in its half of the inning, retaking the lead on a two-out, run-scoring single by junior third baseman Zac Barson (Canton South H.S.).  A wild pitch and an error brought two more runs home for the Cougars in the top of the sixth, putting the visitors on top 7-6.  The back-and-forth battle continued in the bottom of the inning, however, as Malone re-tied the contest on a one-out squeeze bunt by freshman second baseman Justin Shiflett (Zane Trace H.S.) and then pulled ahead 9-7 with a pair of two-out, run-scoring singles by senior centerfielder Troy Richeson (Minerva) and junior first baseman Ryan Baechel (GlenOak H.S.).  Burgos led off the top of the seventh with his second homer of the game but freshman reliever Bryan Bayer (Fairless H.S.), who had entered the contest with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, then held the Cougars off the scoreboard over the remainder of the inning to preserve the 9-8 victory and notch his fourth win of the season (4-1).  The Pioneers registered 14 hits in the game as Lutton led the way, going 3-for-3 with a triple, three RBI and one run scored.  Richeson, junior shortstop Scott McIlvain (Marlington H.S.) and senior outfielders John Stallings (Louisville H.S.) and Chris Mandeville (Tuslaw H.S.) also made significant offensive contributions with two hits apiece.

 

A sacrifice fly by Lutton and a two-out RBI double by Shiflett gave Malone an early 2-0 advantage in game two.  The Pioneers then tacked on one run in the fourth and two runs in the fifth en route to the 5-0 triumph.  Boudler shined on the mound, recording his team-high seventh win of the season (7-2) after working seven shutout innings.  Boudler struck out three and walked two while scattering eight hits in his second complete game of the year.  Malone collected 12 hits in the contest as Mandeville went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored.  Senior designated hitter Zach Winkhart (Canton Central Catholic H.S.) went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs batted in while Shiflett also went 2-for-3 with one RBI.

 

Malone will wrap up its conference schedule on Saturday when it travels to Mount Vernon for two more games with the Cougars.  The Pioneers will then conclude their regular season next week by competing in three more games before participating in the NAIA Regional Tournament May 7-9.

 

Malone Notes: The Pioneers also won 13 straight games in the opening weeks of the 2006 season…Malone will need five more victories to tie the team record of 18 consecutive wins (accomplished in both 1972 and 1979)…The squad is eight victories shy of breaking the Pioneer baseball record for wins in a season (40 wins in 2006)…With a .352 team batting average, the 2008 squad is on pace to shatter the current mark of .332, set by the 2001 squad…Chris Mandeville, currently batting .445 with 15 doubles, is threatening the Malone individual season records for both batting average and two-base hits (Todd Carmer batted .452 in 1989 and Bob Dubovec smacked 19 doubles in 2006).

 

Playoff Picture:  This year, the top four finishers in the AMC regular season standings will qualify for the double-elimination, AMC/NAIA Region IX Tournament.  The event will be held May 7-9 at the highest seed (AMC regular-season champion).  The tournament winner advances to the NAIA Super Regional where it will face the NAIA Region X Champion in a best-of-three playoff series.

 

With two AMC games remaining on its regular season schedule, NAIA #22 Malone is currently in first place in the conference standings with a three and a half game lead over second place Ohio Dominican University (27-11 overall, 14-3 AMC).  The Pioneers defeated the Panthers in both of their meetings earlier this season and therefore hold the tiebreaker with ODU.  Malone can clinch the AMC regular season title if it wins both games in its doubleheader at Mount Vernon Nazarene on Saturday OR if Ohio Dominican loses any two of its nine remaining conference contests (the magic number to clinch is two, the Pioneers would also clinch with one win over MVNU and one Ohio Dominican loss).