The Malone University baseball team came from four runs down to tie the game in the ninth inning before adding a run in the 10th to defeat The Master's College (CA) 7-6 in the first of two games on Saturday afternoon in Tucson. The Pioneers had the tables turned on them in the second game, as Missouri Valley College flipped a 9-5 eighth-inning deficit into a 13-9 triumph. With the loss, Malone fell to 1-3 on the young season.

Game One Recap:
The Pioneers would put themselves in an early 3-0 hole after the first inning but a pair of run-scoring singles the second and third innings cut the lead to 3-2. The Mustangs' Connor Menez held Malone scoreless over the next five innnings. The Master's College tacked on three runs to extend their lead to 6-2 entering the ninth inning.

In the ninth, Keanan Locke led off with a bunt single before scoring on a Jon Crank RBI double. Later in the inning with runners at first and third and two outs, Brenden Wells came to the plate representing the tying run and delivered an RBI single. The Pioneers then scored again as Ryan Froman reached base on an error that would have ended the game. Daulton Ritter's clutch RBI single through the left side scored Wells and tied it up at 6-6.

Locke led off the 10th with another hit and would later come around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Derek Carmichael. Jordan Knight shut down the Mustangs in the 10th to secure Malone's first victory of the season. Knight allowed just one run over three relief innings.

Six different Pioneers recorded RBI's in the win. Locke totaled three hits and three runs scored while Richie Mast added two hits. Wells, who led NCAA DII in triples a season ago, hit his first three-bagger of the year.

Game Two Recap:
After coming back from four runs down in the first game, Malone experienced the opposite fate in game two, relinquishing a four-run lead in the top of the eighth inning before giving up four more runs in the ninth.

Jon Crank drilled a two-run homerun and freshman Matt Noel delivered a clutch two-out two-run single in his first collegiate at bat to give a Malone a 4-2 lead after one inning. Missouri Valley tied it up in the top of the second before Crank's RBI single in the bottom half gave Malone a 5-4 advantage. Malone strecthed its lead in a three-run bottom of the fourth. Crank's third hit of the game plated the first run before Matt Davis' double and a Derek Carmichael base knock put the Pioneers up 8-4.

In the top of the eighth, a  Malone miscommunication in the outfield allowed the Vikings to score and bring the tying run to the plate with runners on the corners. Missouri Valley's Jeremy Shull promptly tied it up with a three-run bomb.. Malone would load the bases in the bottom of the inning but failed to push a run across.

A costly Malone error in the top of the ninth that would have ended the inning allowed the Vikings to take a 10-9 lead. Andrew Skinner then hit the Viking's second three-run homerun in as many innings. Malone couldn't muster a comeback in the bottom of the ninth and fell by the final score of 13-9.

Jon Crank led Malone with three hits and four runs driven in while Keanan Locke continued his torrid start to the season with his fourth straight multi-hit outing. Mast, Davis, Carmichael, and Noel all added two hits apiece. Noel added three RBI's. Matt Litty was solid in a middle relief appearance, allowing a lone earned run and striking out six in three innings.

Up Next: 
The Pioneers will play a 9-inning game against NCAA DII #2 St. Cloud State University (MN) on Monday. March 7th at 6:00 pm EST (4:00 pm MST)