A pair of strong starting pitching performances from freshman hurlers Joshua Hurford and Cody Ballay helped the Malone University baseball team sweep its home doubleheader with NCAA Division II #21 Ashland University on Sunday afternoon. 

After splitting two games with the Eagles on Saturday, Sunday's victories of 6-1 and 5-2 allowed Malone to win its four-game weekend series with AU by a 3-1 margin.  In the process, the Pioneers also locked up the program's first-ever Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason spot. 

The GLIAC Tournament will be held May 7-10 at Athletes in Action Sports Complex in Xenia, Ohio.  The tourney's six-team field will be made up of the top two teams from each Division (North & South) plus the two remaining squads with the best overall conference records.  Malone, with five regular-season games remaining on its schedule, will win a tiebreaker with Ohio Dominican University to finish second in the GLIAC South Division standings. 

The Pioneers will return to action on Tuesday with a single, nine-inning game at NCAA Division I University of Akron.  Malone will then close out the regular season at home on May 2-3 with a four-game series against NCAA Division II #14 Grand Valley State (MI) University. 

Game One Recap
An RBI single by first baseman Tyler Eagon got the Pioneers on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning of the opener.  Ashland would tie things up at 1-1 with an RBI groundout in the fifth before Malone pulled away with five runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Catcher Hayden Mobley got the frame started with a double to left and then later crossed the plate with the go-ahead run following a pair of bunt singles.  A successful squeeze bunt by Eagon made it 3-1.  The Pioneers then tacked on three more scores with a two-run single from centerfielder Brenden Wells and sacrifice fly by shortstop Richie Mast.

Hurford went the distance on the mound, improving to 5-3 on the season after scattering five hits over his seven impressive innings.  The redshirt freshman right-hander struck out five and did not walk a batter.

Game Two Recap
Malone fell behind 2-0 in the top of the second inning of the finale before rallying back for the win.  The Pioneers cut the deficit in half on leftfielder Ryan Froman's RBI groundout in the fourth.

Wells would score the tying run in the seventh on an RBI single to rightfield by Mast.  The Pioneers then pulled ahead for good with three runs in the eighth.  Eagon delivered another squeeze bunt to bring home rightfielder Matt Wheeler with the go-ahead run.  Back-to-back RBI singles by Mast and third baseman Jon Crank wrapped up the scoring.

Ballay tossed the first eight innings, moving his record to 5-3 on the year after allowing just the two runs on five hits.

Reliever Gary Lawrence worked a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his fifth save of the season.

The Pioneers finished with 10 hits, two each for Wells, Mast, Crank, Wheeler and second baseman Austin Pachan.