May 1, 2008

Malone Sweeps Twinbill At Baldwin-Wallace

 
The Malone College baseball team picked up a pair of non-conference victories at NCAA Division III Baldwin-Wallace College on Thursday afternoon as the squad won the opening game of its doubleheader 8-5 before taking the nightcap 10-3.  The Pioneers, ranked 22nd in the most recent NAIA national poll, improved their overall record to 35-11 (21-5 American Mideast Conference) with the doubleheader sweep.  Malone has already clinched a berth in the four-team AMC/NAIA Region IX Tournament and is still alive in the chase for the AMC regular-season title. See Playoff Picture Below
 
In game one on Thursday, the Pioneers entered the bottom of the fifth inning with a 4-2 lead before the host Yellow Jackets (17-19-1) struck for three runs to grab a 5-4 advantage.  Malone quickly responded, however, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth to re-take the lead and then adding two more runs in the top of the seventh to pull away for the 8-5 victory.  Freshman pitcher Bryan Bayer (Fairless H.S.) picked up the win in relief (5-1) for the Pioneers after holding Baldwin-Wallace off the scoreboard over the final 2.2 innings of the contest.  Senior designated hitter Zach Winkhart (Canton Central Catholic H.S.) went 2-for-3 in the opener with a three-run homer and junior Ryan Baechel (GlenOak H.S.) plated both runs in the top of the seventh with a two-run home run.  Senior rightfielder John Stallings (Louisville H.S.) also made significant offensive contributions, going 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and two stolen bases.
 
Malone kept its offense rolling in game two as the squad piled up 14 hits in a convincing 10-3 victory.  Winkhart continued his strong day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs batted in.  Stallings posted two hits with a two-run homer and two runs scored while senior centerfielder Troy Richeson (Minerva H.S.) and junior second baseman Mike Tozzi (Sandy Valley H.S.) each added two hits apiece.  Senior left-hander Jimmy Dowling (Tuslaw H.S.) earned his second win of the season (2-2) after tossing three innings of scoreless relief.
 
The Pioneers are planning to wrap-up their regular season on Saturday evening with a 7:00 p.m. doubleheader at Thurman Munson Stadium.  Saturday will be Senior Night as seniors Jimmy Dowling, Chris Mandeville (Tuslaw H.S.), 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.
 
With no conference games left on its schedule before the postseason begins, Malone is now second in the AMC standings behind first-place Ohio Dominican University.  The Panthers, possessing a 32-11 overall record and an 18-3 mark in the AMC, took over the top spot last weekend by sweeping a pair of doubleheaders with Shawnee State University.  The Pioneers defeated ODU in both of their meetings earlier this season and therefore hold the tiebreaker with the Panthers, should the two teams finish with identical final regular-season records. ODU has five conference games remaining on its schedule (four against Urbana University this coming weekend and one make-up game against the University of Rio Grande that, if necessary, will be played on Monday) and needs to win at least four of those five games in order to secure the AMC regular-season title (Malone would finish first only if Ohio Dominican loses more than one of its five remaining games).
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