The Malone College baseball team’s 13-game winning streak came to a halt on Saturday afternoon as the squad suffered two hard-fought defeats at Mount Vernon Nazarene University by final scores of 11-10 and 11-6.  With the pair of losses, the Pioneers wrapped up their 26-game American Mideast Conference regular-season schedule with a 21-5 record (33-11 overall).  Malone, ranked 20th in the most recent NAIA national poll, has three non-conference games left to play before the postseason begins and is now in second place in the conference standings.  The Pioneers have clinched a berth in the four-team AMC/NAIA Region IX Tournament and are still alive in the chase for the AMC regular-season title.  See Playoff Picture Below

 

Malone entered the bottom of the third inning of game one with a 5-0 lead before Mt. Vernon Nazarene exploded for seven runs to take a 7-5 advantage.  The host Cougars then tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth as MVNU third baseman Richey Burgos crushed his second three-run homer of the game to stretch his squad’s lead to 10-5.  Malone slowly chipped away at the sizable deficit over the next three innings, scoring three runs in the top of the fifth, one run in the top of the sixth, and eventually tying the game at 10-10 in the top of the seventh on a RBI single by senior leftfielder Chris Mandeville (Tuslaw H.S.).  The Cougars spoiled the Pioneers comeback in the bottom of the seventh, though, as MVNU loaded the bases with no outs and then brought the winning run home on a single to leftfield.  Freshman lefty Jeff Shenker (Twinsburg) was credited with the loss (2-1) after tossing two innings of relief, giving up the unearned run in the bottom of the seventh following a pair of Pioneer fielding miscues.  Senior centerfielder Troy Richeson (Minerva H.S.) led the way for Malone offensively, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a three-run homer, and a total of six runs batted in.  Senior rightfielder John Stallings (Louisville H.S.) went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two stolen bases while Mandeville, junior first baseman Ryan Baechel (GlenOak H.S.), junior third baseman Zac Barson (Canton South H.S.), and freshman second baseman Justin Shiflett (Zane Trace H.S.) each contributed two hits apiece.

 

Mount Vernon Nazarene jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the nightcap with a three-run homer in the first inning and a RBI double in the second.  Malone trimmed the Cougar lead to 4-3 with three runs in the top of the third before MVNU put the game out of reach in the bottom of the frame with another seven-run outburst.  The Pioneers countered with three runs in the top of the fifth but it was not enough to overcome the sizable deficit as Mount Vernon went on to record the 11-6 triumph.  Sophomore left-hander Todd Liberatore (Tusc. Central Catholic H.S.) started on the mound and suffered his first loss of the season (6-1) after surrendering eight runs (five earned) over two innings of work.  Malone registered 10 hits in the game as Baechel went 2-for-2 with one run scored while senior designated hitter Zach Winkhart (Canton Central Catholic H.S.) plated two runs with a one-run double and a RBI groundout.

 

This week, Malone (33-11 overall, 21-5 AMC) will wrap its regular season schedule with three non-conference games.  The squad will travel to NCAA Division III Baldwin-Wallace College (17-6-1 overall) on Thursday afternoon for a single, nine-inning contest at 1:00 p.m.  The Pioneers will then host Notre Dame (Ohio) College (18-20 overall, 9-13 AMC) on Saturday evening in a 7:00 p.m. doubleheader at Thurman Munson Stadium.  Saturday will be Senior Night as seniors Jimmy Dowling (Tuslaw H.S.), Chris Mandeville, Josh McKeivier (Strasburg Franklin H.S.), Troy Richeson, John Stallings, Scott Taylor (Lake H.S.), and Zach Winkhart will be honored before the start of game one.

 

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.