The Malone University baseball team will make its debut in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders at Cedarville University. The Pioneers will open G-MAC play on Friday, March 24th at 1:00 pm before playing another twinbill on Saturday, March 25th at noon.
 
Malone will play a 24-game conference slate this spring in its first season in the G-MAC. The Pioneers went 18-12 and finished third in the GLIAC last season. The Pioneers are coming off a 9-4 loss to Seton Hill University on Tuesday while Cedarville is coming off of an 8-6 win over Wisconsin-Parkside.
 
GameDay
(3/24) Malone at Cedarville (DH) – 1:00 pm
(3/25) Malone at Cedarville (DH) – 12:00 pm
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/cedarville/baseball
Twitter: @BaseballMaloneU
 
All-TimeSeries
Malone and Cedarville will renew a storied rivalry this weekend that has been on hiatus since 2012. The Pioneers hold a 65-32 advantage in 97 all-time games against the Yellow Jackets.

Team Comparison by the Numbers

Malone	Category	Cedarville
9-5	Record	4-9
.336	Avg	.288
.425	OBP	.357
6.3	Runs/Gm	5.8
4	HR	6
18	SB	12
4.46	ERA	6.38
1.57	WHIP	2.04
9.0	K/9 IP	5.6

Malone Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Pioneer offense enters the weekend leading the G-MAC in hitting, on-base percentage, and slugging (.464) while the pitching staff leads the conference in ERA and strikeouts per nine innings.
• Nate Cobb (.388 avg, .500 OBP), Zach Mottice (.349 avg, .429 OBP) and Joe Crank (.339 avg, .422 OBP) have effectively set the table for the Pioneers' balanced lineup.
• Cobb has reached base from his leadoff spot in all 14 games this season while Mottice and Crank have each reached in 13 of 14.
• Pioneer sluggers Matt Noel (.488, 7 RBI), Keanan Locke (.455, 2 HR, 15 RBI), Michael Mathieu (.444, 1 HR, 10 RBI) and Brenden Wells (.321, 9 RBI) have excelled in the thick of the batting order.
• Noel leads the G-MAC in OBP (.560),  ranks second in hitting, and has seven multi-hit games to his credit. Locke, meanwhile, has six multi-hit games and four with multiple RBIs. Wells, who has settled in nicely to the three spot in the order, has scored eight runs in the last three games.
• The starting pitching rotation features three arms with sub-2.00 ERA. Roscoe Blackburn (0-0, 0.00 ERA), Joshua Hurford (2-0, 0.59), and Braun Miller (1-0, 1.86) are all expected to take the mound in this weekend's series.
• Hurford leads the squad with 20 strikeouts compared to just two walks this season. Blackburn has limited opponents to a .189 batting average which is the second-lowest rate in the conference.
   

Cedarville Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• Since starting the season with eight straight losses, Cedarville has won four of its last five.
• The Yellow Jackets are led by centerfielder Colton Potter and his G-MAC-leading .500 batting average.
• Third baseman Eli Sanchez (.378) and first baseman Markus Neff (.333) both rank among the top-15.
• The starting pitching rotation is led by staff ace Josh Kneeland (2-2) who leads the team with 2.16 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 25.0 innings pitched.