May 16, 2008

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Malone Wins NCCAA East Region Tournament

Malone vs. Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Game Four) Box Score - 05/16/08

Malone vs. Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Game Five) Box Score - 05/16/08

The Malone College baseball team captured the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) East Region Title on Friday afternoon at Thurman Munson Stadium with a 7-2 victory over Mount Vernon Nazarene University in the East Region Tournament’s fifth and final contest. The Cougars (35-20 overall, #2 tournament seed) entered Friday’s action needing two victories to claim the East Region Championship while Malone (39-14 overall, #1 tournament seed) had to win only one of Friday’s two scheduled contests to secure the regional title (Malone led the best-of-three series with MVNU 1-0 after defeating Mt. Vernon Nazarene 4-3 in the tournament’s third game on Thursday afternoon). A 9-3 Mt. Vernon Nazarene triumph in Friday’s opener forced a deciding game five, but Malone was able to rebound from the early defeat in game four and claim the best-of-three series two games to one with a 7-2 victory in the finale. As the NCCAA East Region Champions, the Pioneers have earned an automatic bid to the NCCAA National Tournament that is to be held May 21-24 at Bob Cene Park in Struthers, Ohio.

MVNU led Friday’s opener 6-1 before Malone plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to trim the deficit to 6-3. The Cougars answered back in the top of the seventh, though, scoring three more runs to put game four out of reach at 9-3. Junior starting pitcher Adam Boudler (Louisville H.S.) suffered the loss (7-4) for Malone after surrendering six runs (two earned) on seven hits over 5.2 innings of work. The Pioneers tallied six hits in the game as senior centerfielder Troy Richeson (Minerva H.S.) went 2-for-4 at the plate with one run batted in.

Malone took command of Friday’s second game in the early going by scoring five runs in the top of the first inning. Mt. Vernon Nazarene notched single runs in the bottom of the first and bottom of the fifth but it was unable to overcome the Pioneers’ big first inning, falling by the 7-2 final. Senior starting pitcher Zach Winkhart (Canton Central Catholic H.S.) turned in an excellent performance on the mound for Malone as he held the Cougars to just two runs on six hits over seven innings to record his sixth victory of the season (6-0) and third complete game. The Pioneers ripped 12 hits in the contest as Stallings went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, one run batted in, and one stolen base.

Following its three triumphs in the NCCAA East Regional (Two wins over MVNU, one win against Nyack), Malone needs just one more victory to tie the 2006 squad’s single-season record of 40 wins. Seeding, opponents and game times for the NCCAA National Tournament should be announced early next week.

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