CANTON, Ohio - After the tough afternoon in Buckhannon yesterday, the Salem softball team had a chance to get back on track when they headed up to Northeast Ohio to take on the Malone Pioneers. The Tigers split with Malone back in February, and they played into another tightly contested split with the Pioneers. Both contests played out as follows:

Salem 3, Malone 0

In Game 1, Salem took control of the contest early on with an offensive showcase in the first inning. Mackenzie Ringer opened up the scoring with a double to center field that brought in Jazmyn Moetului. Immediately after that, Meesha Arroyo singled to center, and that hit scored Ringer and Ricki Garay. With the 3-0 lead, Salem rode out the rest of the contest with a strong defensive performance behind starting pitcher Meesha Arroyo, who went the distance for the Tigers and logged 4 strikeouts to get the win for Salem.

Malone 6, Salem 5

For Game 2, the Tigers had a tough contest on their hands from the opening as the Pioneers took a 2-0 lead in the first. Salem battled back in the second with 2 of their own. Syriah Trujillo singled to bring in Ricki Garay to open it up, and then Trujillo was part of a double steal play that allowed Mackenzie Ringer to score from third to knot the game up at 2. Trujillo played the hero again in the 4th with another RBI single, and Jazmyn Moetului added to that lead with another RBI single in the 5th for the Tigers. Malone added a run in the 5th as well, but Salem found one more run of their own in the top of the 7th with a Mackenzie Ringer RBI single. Unfortunately, the 5-3 Salem lead was not enough to withstand the 3 run Pioneer rally in the bottom of the 7th, and the Tigers fell 6-5.

While the end of the day certainly stings for the Salem faithful, the Tigers will have a chance to get back on track next week when they have another rematch on their hands in Frankfort, Kentucky against Kentucky State on April 25th.