The Malone College baseball team set a new single-season record for victories on Thursday afternoon at Bob Cene Park in Struthers, Ohio as the squad picked up its 41st win of 2008 with a 13-6 triumph over Indiana Wesleyan University in the winner’s bracket of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Tournament.  The top-seeded Pioneers (41-14 overall) racked up 14 hits in Thursday’s contest to pull away for the seven-run victory over the fifth-seeded Wildcats (29-23 overall).  Malone now moves on to Friday’s winner’s bracket championship game where it will face the tournament’s only other remaining undefeated team, second-seeded Mt. Vernon Nazarene University (37-20 overall). 

 

The Pioneers exploded for six runs in the top of the second inning to take an early 7-0 lead in Thursday afternoon’s contest with Indiana Wesleyan.  The Wildcats plated four runs in the bottom of the third to trim the deficit to 7-4, but Malone then put the game way over the next three innings as the squad brought home six more runs to cement the 13-6 victory.  Sophomore left-hander Todd Liberatore (Tusc. Central Catholic H.S.) worked seven strong innings on the mound for the Pioneers to notch his eighth victory (8-1) of the year and sixth complete game.  Liberatore gave up six runs (four earned) on seven hits while striking out six and walking three.  Senior centerfielder Troy Richeson (Minerva H.S.) led the way offensively for Malone as he went 5-for-5 with three runs scored, one stolen base, and one RBI.  Senior leftfielder Chris Mandeville (Tuslaw H.S.) and junior first baseman Ryan Baechel (Glen Oak H.S.) each posted two hits with two runs batted in while junior third baseman Zac Barson (Canton South H.S.) plated four runs with a sacrifice fly and a three-run double.

 

In addition to breaking the 2006 record of 40 wins, the Pioneers also set or tied three other marks in the Malone record book on Thursday.  With 14 hits, the squad pushed its season total to 559 which surpassed the previous 2006 record of 553 base hits.  After recording three doubles in Thursday’s contest, the Pioneers have also tied the 2006 single-season mark of 88 doubles.  In addition, Richeson’s incredible 5-for-5 performance on Thursday moved his career hit total to 206, tying Rob Roberts for the all-time lead.

 

Four squads remain in contention after the first two days of the ten-team, double-elimination NCCAA National Tournament.  Indiana Wesleyan and Chowan (NC) University remain alive in the loser’s bracket with one loss apiece.  Malone and MVNU are both undefeated in tourney play and will face off on Friday at 11:00 a.m.  Regardless of the outcome of Friday’s opening game, MVNU and Indiana Wesleyan will then play at 2:00 p.m. followed by a 7:00 p.m. contest between Malone and third-seeded Chowan.  The schedule for Saturday’s championship round will then be determined based on the outcome of Friday’s games.

 

Pioneer Notes: In addition to the records listed above, Malone is threatening several other marks in the Pioneer baseball record book.  The Pioneers are currently batting .349 as a team which would smash the 2001 record of .332.  Several individual records are also in jeopardy including doubles in a season (Chris Mandeville needs one more double to break Bob Dubovec’s mark of 19), hits in a season (Troy Richeson is now just eight base hits shy of tying Bob Dubovec’s single-season record of 87 hits), runs in a season (Richeson needs six more runs to tie Scott McIlvain and Jarrod Stahl’s shared mark of 59 runs scored) and triples in a career (Richeson needs two more triples to match Steve Buso’s mark of 13 career triples).