The Malone University baseball team posted an opening-day doubleheader split against California University (PA) on Saturday at Consol Energy Park in Washington, Pennsylvania. Malone picked up a 7-2 win in the 9-inning opener before dropping an 8-6 contest in the seven-inning nightcap. The Pioneers, whose original opening-day was moved up a week due to favorable weather conditions, will be on a two-week hiatus before beginning an 11-game spring break trip in Tucson, Arizona on March 3rd.
 
Game One Recap
The Pioneers spotted the Vulcans a 2-0 lead following a two-out single in the third and a two-out balk in the fourth. Malone had put the leadoff batter on in the top half of each of those two innings but failed to plate a run as both players were caught stealing.
 
The Pioneer lineup, which featured five new faces from a season ago, was held to just three hits over the first six innings before they finally began to shake off the opening-day jitters in the top of the seventh.
 
Following a leadoff hit-by-pitch by senior first baseman Ryan Sarbaugh, sophomore Austin White laced a single into left to put runners on first and second. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, sophomore catcher Tom Eslich, a transfer from Marietta College, singled up the middle to score both runs. Eslich later came around to score on a double by freshman Nate Cobb to give the Pioneers a 3-2 lead.
 
An inning later, Malone made it 4-2 on an RBI triple by senior left fielder Brenden Wells. The Pioneers then added three insurance runs, all with two outs, in the ninth. Cobb scored Malone's 5th run on an RBI single from senior right fielder Keanan Locke. One pitch later, sophomore shortstop Joe Crank made it 7-2 with a single to right that scored Locke and freshman second baseman Zach Mottice who reached via a single earlier in the inning.
 
With a comfortable 7-2 lead in the bottom of the 9th, senior hurler Gunnar Smeyres came in and struck out the side to preserve the victory. His effort was part of a tremendous outing by the Pioneer bullpen that came on in relief of Pioneer starter Braun Miller. Juniors Joshua Hurford and Jordan Yoder (1-0) along with Smeyres combined to allow just four baserunners over the final 5.1 innings.
 
Eslich and Crank both collected two hits and two RBI for the Pioneer offense. Locke and Wells each tallied two hits and an RBI.
 
Game Two Recap
The Pioneers were held scoreless over the first three innings and watched the Vulcans open up an 8-0 lead as they touched up sophomore Clyde Yoder (0-1) for six runs (five earned) in 2+ innings.
 
Malone cut the eight-run lead in half with a four-spot in the top of the fourth. Austin White delivered a run-scoring single before Ryan Sarbaugh scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-2.  The Pioneers plated two more runs on a Zach Mottice RBI groundout and a Cal U throwing error.
 
Mottice led off the top of the sixth with a double to center and scored two pitches later on a triple by Keanan Locke. Another base hit by Joe Crank scored Locke and brought the potential tying run to the plate. The Pioneers couldn't cash in, though, as an inning-ending double-play erased the threat.
 
Malone brought the tying run to the plate once again in the top of the seventh, but a harmless groundout gave the Pioneers' their first taste of defeat. Locke and White led the Malone offense with two hits and an RBI apiece.
 
Highly-touted freshman pitcher Eric Mullet struck out the only two batters he faced in his debut as he teamed with Roscoe Blackburn, Jordan Knight, and fellow freshman Christian Specht to hold Cal U scoreless over the final three innings.