Game 1 Box Score  |  Game 2 Box Score

The Malone University baseball team swept both games of its doubleheader at Urbana University on Thursday afternoon with the help of a pair of seventh-inning offensive surges.   Malone scored four times in the top of the seventh of the opener to pull away for a 7-1 victory.  The Pioneers then rallied back from a 3-0 deficit in game two, crossing the plate six times in the top of the seventh en route to a thrilling 6-3 triumph.

With the pair of wins, Malone's overall record improved to 24-16 overall.  Urbana, meanwhile, dropped to 16-21. 

The Pioneers, winners of 17 out of their last 20 games, will be back in action against Urbana on Saturday afternoon with a 1:00 p.m. home doubleheader at Thurman Munson Stadium.

Game One Recap
Third baseman Bob Suitca staked Malone to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning of the opener after belting a three-run homer over the fence in right.  The score then remained unchanged until the bottom of the sixth when Urbana got on the scoreboard after stringing together three consecutive two-out base hits.

The Pioneers then took command with the four-run seventh inning.  Shortstop Joe Goddard led off the frame with a triple to right and then came home to score on a single up the middle by first baseman Matt Anderson.  A double to left by centerfielder Adam Heideman moved Anderson to third.  Both base runners then crossed the plate when Suitca cranked another shot to right, this time for a double to make the score 6-1.  Suitca then completed the scoring later in the frame after coming home on a Blue Knight fielding miscue.

Urbana put two runners on base in the bottom of the inning before Malone starting pitcher Tyler Newhart wrapped things up by inducing a double-play ground ball.

Newhart improved to 5-1 on the season after tossing his first complete game of the year.  The senior right-hander limited the Blue Knights to just the one run while scattering seven hits and striking out four.

Malone posted 13 base hits in the contest, led by Suitca, who went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and five runs batted in.  Anderson and second baseman Logan Gray each added two hits apiece.

Game Two Recap
Urbana starting pitcher Zane Bayliss held the Pioneer offense to just four hits through the first six innings of the finale.

The Blue Knights grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run homer to right by first baseman Greg Liming.  Urbana then added another run in the fifth after registering three consecutive two-out singles. 

Malone then broke through against Bayliss and the Blue Knights in the seventh.  After a lead-off walk and a single, Gray chased Bayliss from the game with a two-run double to left-center.  A hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice bunt followed, putting runners on second and third with one out. 

With a drawn-in infield, leftfielder Sam Craciun then stepped to the plate and drove in the tying and go-ahead runs after his ground ball hit the infield lip, bouncing over the shortstop's head and into left field for a two-run single. 

The Pioneers tacked on two more insurance runs later in the inning with an RBI fielder's choice by centerfielder Sean Gorby and an Urbana error.

Pioneer closer Nate Morrison then worked a scoreless bottom of the seventh, preserving the comeback victory and earning his fifth save of the season.

Reliever Jesse Coblentz picked up his third win of the year (3-1) after recording the final two outs in the bottom of the sixth.  Jack McDonald started the contest and worked the first 5.1 innings, giving up the three runs on six hits.

Craciun registered two of the Pioneers' seven hits in the contest, smacking a two-out single in the third to go with his go-ahead single in the seventh.