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The Malone University baseball team concluded its four-game American Mideast Conference weekend series against local rival Walsh University on Saturday evening at Thurman Munson Stadium by recording a pair of shutout victories by identical final scores of 4-0. Following wins of 5-1 and 13-1 at Walsh on Thursday afternoon, the Pioneers' strong play continued Saturday In front of a large Bob Starcher Memorial Day crowd as starting pitchers Jeff Shenker and Alex Haines each tossed complete-game shutouts, yielding a combined total of nine Cavalier hits in the two contests. Malone's record improved to 32-17 overall and 10-6 in the AMC with the doubleheader sweep while Walsh dropped to 17-26 overall and 3-13 in conference play.

Between games, the Bob Starcher Memorial Day ceremony was held featuring a moment of silence for Malone's long-time former head coach. In addition, the 2011 Starcher Memorial Scholarship winners, as well as, Malone's NAIA Champions of Character team and individual honorees were also recognized.

Third baseman Bob Suitca put Malone on top 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning of game one after blasting a two-out solo homer to right-center, marking the first home run hit by a Pioneer at Thurman Munson Stadium so far this season. The hosts then tacked on three more scores in the bottom of the third after cashing in on two Cavalier fielding miscues and an RBI single to center by leftfielder Sam Craciun. This was more than enough offense for Shenker as he ran his record to 4-2 on the year after seven impressive innings in which he allowed just four hits and struck out eight. First baseman Michael Chack paced the Malone offense by going 2-for-3 at the plate while catcher T.J. Rosenberg and shortstop Anthony Cono each added a double.

The Pioneers strung together four straight two-out base hits to grab a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of game two. Malone then tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, scoring on a Walsh throwing error and a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Rosenberg. Like Shenker in game one, Haines tied up the Walsh batting order in the finale, limiting the Cavaliers to five base hits. Haines improved his record to 4-2 on the season after striking out five and walking just one. Cono notched two of Malone's eight hits with a pair of singles. Rosenberg drove in two runs, ripping an RBI single in the first to go with his sac fly in the fifth.

Malone took over sole possession of third place in the AMC standings following Saturday's contests, now one game behind second-place Point Park (PA) University which currently owns an 11-5 conference mark. The Pioneers will conclude AMC regular-season play next weekend with a four-game series against first-place Mt. Vernon Nazarene University. Malone will travel to MVNU on Friday for a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader. The Cougars will then head to Canton on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. twinbill. The top three finishers in the final AMC regular-season standings will qualify for the conference's postseason tournament.

Notes: Malone went 6-0 against Walsh in 2011, posting non-conference wins of 9-0 & 4-2 on March 25th to go with this week's four AMC victories…In those six games, the Pioneers out-scored their rivals by a combined score of 39-4...Shenker was particularly effective against the Cavaliers in 2011, surrendering a combined total of six hits in a pair of complete-game shutouts.