KENNEDY TOWNSHIP., — In the last regular season games for Point Park the Pioneers earned a split with Ohio Christian on senior day. The Pioneers took game one 10-0 in five innings as sophomore Jaylyn Mullenax threw a no-hitter. Ohio Christian battled back to take game two 6-4.
Game 1:
Everything was clicking for Point Park in game one. Jaylyn Mullenax threw the best game of her career at Point Park as the sophomore went all 5.0 innings allowing only one base runner to reach on an error while striking out five in the no-hitter.
Point Park started the scoring in the bottom of the third as the Pioneers plated four runs on five hits.
Melanie Taylor led the inning off with a double to left field where she advanced on a Mara Iagnemma sacrifice bunt to put her in scoring position for Mia Arndt.
Arndt singled to left field to score Taylor then Arndt was brought in herself on a Gianna Welsh double to right field.
Following a Savannah Lee single to right field, Welsh scored on a wild pitch to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead.
Point Park got their fourth run of the inning a Bella Magliocco fielder’s choice to allow Lee to score making it 4-0.
Point Park scored six more runs in the bottom of the fourth on one hit and four errors by the Trailblazer.
Mia Arndt drew a bases loaded walk to score Remi Koi who had reached on a walk, followed up by a Gianna Welsh single to left field to score Iagnemma and Taylor.
Hayley O’Neil then reached first on an error by the shortstop to allow Welsh to score. Koi then also reached on an error allowing Lee to score making it 10-0 going into the top of the fifth.
Ohio Christian managed to get a runner on as Emma Hasting reached first on an error but that was all the Trailblazers got as the next two batters popped up and flied out to earn Mullenax the no-hitter.
The last time a Point Park softball player threw a no-hitter was back on April 19, 2019 as Ashley Iagnemma threw a no-hitter against Carlow University as she went all 7.0 innings striking out 11 and only walking two in the 4-0 victory.
Gianna Welsh went 2 for 3 with three RBIs and two runs, Mia Arndt went 2 for 2 with two RBIs and a run, and Melanie Taylor went 2 for 4 with two runs scored to help lead the Pioneer offense,
Game 2:
In game two Point Park saw themselves ahead 4-0 going into the top of the sixth, but six runs by the Trailblazers in the top of the sixth cost the Pioneers as they were unable to answer back giving Ohio Christian the 6-4 game two win.
Senior Sydnie Reese started the scoring for Point Park as she hit a solo home run over the center field fence to put the Pioneers out front.
Point Park got two runners on following the solo home run as Kristyna Mala reached first on an error by the second basemen and Hayley O’Neil singled to center field.
Kristyna Mala then crossed home plate during Remi Koi‘s at bat as Koi was able to reach first on an error by the third basemen allowing Mala to score.
The Pioneers added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth as a hit by pitch and back-to-back hits by O’Neil and Koi allowed Mala to score as well as O’Neil.
The sixth inning was all the Trailblazers as they managed to score six runs on seven hits and two errors by the Pioneer’s defense. Ohio Christian was able to piece together five hits in a row to ignite the offense. Point Park was able to finally escape the inning on a ground out to Mara Iagnemma.
Point Park was unable to make up the difference though as they were unable to score in the sixth or the seventh inning giving Ohio Christian the 6-4 win.
Savannah Lee was tagged with the loss going 5.1 innings giving up six hits, five runs in which four was earned, while picking up three strikeouts.
Jaylyn Mullenax entered in relief going 1.2 innings while allowing five hits and one unearned run.
Hayley O’Neil and Remi Koi led the Pioneer offense going 2 for three with an RBI each while O’Neil added a run. Sydnie Reese went 1 for 3 with her solo shot in the bottom of the second.
Following the split, the Pioneers end the regular season 21-23 overall and 14-18 in River States Conference play. Point Park is now the fourth seed on the East going into the conference tournament. The Pioneers will now face off with the #1 seed on the West, IU Southeast, next Thursday in South Charleston, West Virginia. Game time is scheduled for 2:00 pm ET.
