The Malone University baseball team tallied a 1-1 record against the University of Mary on Saturday during its second day of competition at the Tucson Invitational.  The Pioneers pocketed an 11-6 victory in the opener before dropping the finale by a narrow 4-3 margin.

Malone's record moved to 1-3 following Saturday's games while the Marauders now stand at 1-5 overall.  The Pioneers will have an off day on Sunday and will then be back in action in Arizona on Monday with a pair of nine-inning games.  Malone and Mary will meet once more at 9:00 a.m. MST (11:00 a.m. EST).  The Pioneers will then square off with Indiana Wesleyan University at 12:30 p.m. MST (2:30 p.m. EST).

Game One Recap
The Pioneers racked up 15 hits during Saturday's opener.  Malone grabbed a 3-0 advantage in the top of the first before Mary answered back, pulling in front with four runs in the bottom of the inning.  The Pioneers regained the lead in the second on back-to-back RBI singles by rightfielder Matt Wheeler and third baseman Jon Crank. 

Malone then pulled away, scoring a pair of runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh frames.  Following the big four-run first inning, the Marauders were held to just two unearned runs the rest of the way by Pioneer relievers Gunnar Smeyres, Jordan Knight and Matthew Criswell.

Wheeler finished game one with four hits, four runs scored and two RBI's.  Designated hitter Matt Davis went 3-for-5 and drove in a total of three runs with a two-run double in the sixth and an RBI single in the first.  Catcher Hayden Mobley posted two hits and drove in a total of four runs. 

Mobley lifted a sacrifice fly to right in the first, a two-run double to leftfield in the fourth and an RBI single to left in the seventh.  Centerfielder Brenden Wells also had a nice showing from the leadoff spot, posting a double, single, two runs scored and a stolen base.

Game Two Recap
The Marauders broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the fifth inning of game two with a pair of unearned runs.  The Pioneers cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth when Mobley crossed the plate on an RBI fielder's choice by leftfielder Ryan Froman.

Malone put the tying run on base in the sixth and seventh frames but was unable to even the score, falling by the one-run deficit. 

Mary held early leads of 1-0 and 2-1. The Pioneers would tie things up at 1-1 in the second inning with an RBI single by first baseman Ryan Sarbaugh.  Malone then made it 2-2 in the third on a single to center by Froman.

Joshua Hurford started on the mound and was saddled with the loss (0-1) despite surrendering just one earned run over the first five innings.   In his first collegiate start, the redshirt freshman struck out five and walked just one.

Wheeler continued his hot start, tacking on two more base hits in Saturday's finale.  The senior now has nine hits through his first 15 at-bats.  Davis, meanwhile, went 2-for-2 in game two with a triple, a run scored and a walk.