The Malone College softball team snapped an eight-game slide on Tuesday afternoon by winning both games of its home American Mideast Conference North Division doubleheader with Point Park (PA) University.  Sophomore second baseman Leslie McCammon (Wadsworth H.S.) secured an 8-1 victory in the opener by crushing a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Malone then executed a rare triple play in game two as it pulled away for a 16-8, five-inning triumph.  Following the pair of wins, Malone’s record now stands at 10-14 overall with a 4-8 mark in the North Division.

 

Malone entered the bottom of the sixth inning of game one clinging to a 2-1 advantage, but then put the game away with a big six-run outburst.  Senior centerfielder Ashlee Locker (Strasburg H.S.) and freshman leftfielder Elizabeth Sarkissian (Twinsburg H.S.) got the frame started with RBI hits.  Later in the inning, with two outs and the bases full, McCammon stepped to the plate and smacked a long drive over the leftfield fence to put the game out of reach at 8-1.  Junior starting pitcher Ashleigh Ralston (Wadsworth H.S.) earned her fifth victory of the season (5-5) after working seven innings, giving up just one run on four hits while striking out five.  Malone tallied nine hits in the contest as sophomore rightfielder Laura Blackburn (Thomas Worthington H.S.) went 2-3 at the plate with one run scored and two runs batted in.

 

With a run already home, no outs, and runners on second and third base, Point Park (9-11 overall, 4-6 AMC North) looked poised for a big first inning in game two.  However, Malone managed to escape the jam with a triple play.  The Point Park cleanup hitter hit a fly ball to Sarkissian in leftfield to record the first out.  As both base runners tagged and attempted to advance on the play, Sarkissian threw home to catcher Karre Thompson (Fr., East Canton H.S.) who slapped a tag on the Point Park base runner for the second out.  Thompson then threw the ball to third baseman Jenna Vrabel (Sr., Ursuline H.S.), who completed the triple play by tagging out the second Point Park base runner.  After short-circuiting Point Park’s big inning in the top of the first, Malone’s offense then went to work, churning out 16 runs on 12 hits en route to a 16-8, run-rule victory.  Senior Kathryn Bzdafka (Avon Lake H.S.) picked up the win in relief after giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits over 2.1 innings pitched.  Four different Malone batters recorded at least two hits in the five-inning game as sophomore outfielder Morgan Heacock (Mt. Gilead H.S.) went 4-4 with two doubles, a triple, four runs scored and four runs batted in.  Thompson was 2-4 with a two-run homer and four RBI, Locker plated three runs with a two-run double and a one-run single, while Blackburn posted a single and a double with two runs batted in.

 

Malone will next travel to Ursuline College (2-12 overall, 1-9 AMC North) on Thursday afternoon for a 4:00 p.m. doubleheader with the Arrows.