THE BASICS
-Score: Malone University 12, Assumption College 11
-Records: Assumption (4-6-1), Malone (6-6)
-Location: Winter Park, Fla. (Alfond Stadium)
-The Lead: The Assumption College baseball team fell to the Pioneers of Malone College in the bottom of the ninth inning on Monday afternoon at Rollins College, 12-11.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Malone got on the board first with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Turner Hill led off with a single through the right side and advanced to third on a single byTyson Gingerich. Hill and Gingerich came home on a single to left by Joe Crank (2-0). Junior Clay Wisner sent Crank home with a single to left field for the 3-0 lead.
-The Pioneers added three runs over the next two innings to pull ahead 6-0 at the end of three innings.
-Sophomore Jake Hamel (Uxbridge, Mass. / Saint John's) led off with a homerun to left center in the top of the fourth. Senior Matt Lonardo (Cranston, RI / Cranston / URI) followed up with a homerun of his own and junior Dillon Zona (Shrewsbury, Mass. / Shrewsbury) put up the third homerun of the inning to bring the Hounds within two, 6-4.
-The Pioneers extended their lead to seven with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Gingerich tripled to left center for three RBIs to close the inning with the 11-4 lead.
-Assumption put up four runs in the seventh, including a three-run homer by senior Matt Schneider (Dalton, Mass. / Wahconah Regional) to bring Assumption within three, 11-8.
-The Hounds took their first lead of the game with three runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 11-11. Malone walked off with the final 12-11 victory on a single by Turner Hill that scored first year Kail Hill in the bottom of the ninth.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
-Hamel went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored on the day for the Hounds. Zona finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs and one run scored. Lonardo finished 2-for-3 with one RBI and three runs scored while Schneider went 1-for-4 with three RBIs and one run scored.
-The Hounds finished the day with 10 total hits while the Pioneers put up 17 hits.
-Junior James McNamara (Westford, Mass. / Westford Academy) started the day on the mound for Assumption. He went two innings, allowed 10 hits, six runs scored, and struck out one batter. First year Justin Ray (Portland, Maine / Cheverus) came in for 2.1 innings and struck out four batters, followed by senior Ryan Graham (Portland, Maine / Cheverus) who pitched 3.2 innings and struck out three batters. Freshman Jack Choate (North Grafton, Mass. / Westborough) fell to 0-1 on the season as he closed the game for the Hounds.
-Clyde Yoder earned the win for Malone and improves to 2-2 on the season.
UP NEXT
-The Hounds play at Flagler tomorrow, Tuesday, March 10th at 5:00 p.m.