May 24, 2008

Pioneers Finish Third At NCCAA National Tournament

 
The Malone College baseball team claimed a third-place finish at the ten-team NCCAA National Tournament after posting a 1-2 record over the final two days of tourney competition (Friday and Saturday) at Bob Cene Park in Struthers, Ohio.  After having defeated eighth-seeded Oakland City (IN) University on Wednesday and fifth-seeded Indiana Wesleyan University on Thursday, the top-seeded Pioneers opened play on Friday with a 9-0 loss to the tournament’s only other remaining undefeated team, second seed Mt. Vernon Nazarene University.  Indiana Wesleyan then squared off with MVNU in Friday’s second contest and handed the Cougars their first defeat of the tournament by a final score of 7-3.  Malone returned to action late Friday evening and was able to avoid elimination by recording a 5-2 triumph over third-seeded Chowan (NC) University. 
 
Following the completion of Friday’s three contests, Malone, Indiana Wesleyan and Mt. Vernon Nazarene each remained alive in tournament contention with one loss apiece, but since MVNU was the last of the three remaining teams to lose a game, the Cougars received a bye into Saturday’s 4:00 p.m. championship contest.  Malone’s season then came to a close on Saturday afternoon as Indiana Wesleyan advanced to the NCCAA title game with a 6-3 victory over the Pioneers.  IWU later fell to Mt. Vernon Nazarene 8-3 as the Cougars captured their sixth NCCAA National Championship.   Malone ended a very successful 2008 campaign with a final overall record of 42-16, marking the highest single-season win total in the history of the Pioneer baseball program.
 
Against Mt. Vernon Nazarene in Friday’s opener, the Cougars notched 16 hits and scored two or more runs in four different innings as they pulled away for a 9-0 win.  MVNU starting pitcher Josh Estep worked seven shutout innings on the mound, striking out seven while limiting Malone to six hits.  Senior Zach Winkhart (Canton Central Catholic H.S.) started the game for the Pioneers and suffered his first loss of the season (6-1) after surrendering seven runs (four earned) on nine hits over 3.2 innings of work.  Senior centerfielder Troy Richeson (Minerva H.S.) tallied two of Malone’s six singles in the contest.  His lead-off single in the bottom of the first inning broke the Pioneers’ career hit record, giving him 207 career base hits to surpass Rob Roberts’ (1993-1996) mark of 206.
 
Due to an extra-inning high school postseason game at Bob Cene Park, Friday’s final contest did not get under way until 9:00 p.m.  The late start did not hinder the Malone offense, however, as the Pioneers scored twice in the top of the first and twice in the top of the third inning to grab a 4-0 lead.  Chowan cut the deficit in half with two runs in the bottom of the third before Richeson delivered a run-scoring single in the top of the fourth to push the Pioneer advantage to 5-2.  Junior starting pitcher Adam Boudler (Louisville H.S.) then blanked the Hawks over the final four innings to cement the 5-2, complete-game victory.  Boudler improved his record to 8-4 on the year after giving up just two runs on eight hits while striking out seven over seven innings pitched.  Malone tallied seven hits in the contest as junior catcher Jon Lutton (Louisville H.S.) and senior leftfielder Chris Mandeville (Tuslaw H.S.) each went 2-for-3 at the plate.  With a two-out RBI double in the top of the first, Mandeville broke the Pioneer single-season record for two-base hits, pushing his season total to 20 (the previous record belonged to Bob Dubovec, who hit 19 doubles in 2006).
 
A five-run fourth inning turned out to be the difference in Saturday’s contest with Indiana Wesleyan.  Malone had led 2-1 after three frames before the Wildcats put five runs up on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth to take command.  The Pioneers plated a single run in the bottom of the inning to cut the IWU lead to 6-3 but Malone was unable to get any closer over the remaining three innings, falling by the 6-3 final.  Freshman lefty Jeff Shenker (Twinsburg H.S.) started and took the loss (3-2) after giving up six runs (only two earned) on seven hits over 3.2 innings of work. 
 
Pioneer Notes: The 2008 Malone baseball team had a significant impact on the record book as the squad broke a total of eight team and individual records.  New team marks that were set this year included wins in a season (42), highest batting average (.345), most hits in a season (576), most doubles in a season (90), and most hit by pitcher in a season (54).  Individual records included hits in a career (Troy Richeson, 210), doubles in a season (Chris Mandeville, 20), and hit by pitcher in a season (Zac Barson, 13)…In addition, head coach Tom Crank reached 150 career coaching victories with Friday’s win over Chowan.  Crank, who just completed his fifth season at the helm of the Pioneer baseball program, joins Bob Starcher as the only Malone baseball coaches to reach 150 career coaching wins (Starcher tallied an incredible 521-330-10 record over 23 seasons).
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