A pair of strong pitching performances propelled the Malone University baseball team to two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) victories over Ohio Dominican University Friday afternoon in Columbus. The Pioneers took game one 6-3 before sweeping the Panthers with a 6-1 victory in the finale. With the win, Malone improved to 14-11 on the season and 6-2 in the GLIAC.
 
Game One Recap:
The Pioneers plated the first run of the game with back-to-back two-out doubles in the top of the first. Matt Davis' ninth two-bagger of the season drove in Jon Crank and gave Malone an early 1-0 lead.
 
The two teams would trade zeros until the bottom of the fourth when Ohio Dominican tied it up with a two-out single. Some more zeros were traded until the top of the seventh when a clutch RBI single from Austin Pachan gave the visitors a 2-1 advantage.
 
Down to their last at bat in the bottom half of the seventh, the Panthers tied it with back-to-back base hits, forcing extra innings.
 
Malone broke the game open with four runs in the eighth. Derek Carmichael's sacrifice fly allowed the Pioneers to retake the lead before Matt Noel's run-scoring single made it 4-2. Two batters later, Austin Pachan delivered a two-out two-run single, giving the Pioneers some insurance heading into the bottom of the eighth.
 
The Panthers added a run in the inning, but Malone starter Clyde Yoder (2-1) worked through the middle of the ODU order to preserve the 6-3 win. Despite the late runs, Yoder was tremendous on the afternoon, striking out seven while walking none in the complete game victory.
 
Pachan led the offense with two hits and three RBI while Jon Crank added two hits. Keanan Locke extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a double in the fifth.
 
Game Two Recap:
A two-out rally in the top half of the first put Malone ahead early. Four straight hits including an RBI single from Brenden Wells and an RBI double from Derek Carmichael gave the Pioneers a 2-0 advantage.
 
An RBI single from Keanan Locke extended his hit streak to 14 games and gave Malone a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. Ohio Dominican answered with a run in the bottom half to make it a 3-1 contest.
 
The Pioneers extended their lead to 4-1 with another RBI single from Keanan Locke in the top of the fourth. Two more runs came across to score in the top of the fifth on an RBI single from Matt Noel giving Malone a 6-1 edge that would stand as the final score.
 
Starting pitcher Tyler Whitlatch (4-0) was outstanding in the complete game victory. The senior lefty allowed just four hits and no walks while striking out four. Whitlatch tossed his second complete game of the season and improved his team-leading ERA to 2.91 in the dominant performance.
 
Up Next:
The Pioneers will resume their series with Ohio Dominican on Sunday, April 10th. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 12:00 pm. Preview notes are available here.