The Malone University baseball team salvaged a doubleheader split on Friday at Cedarville University, suffering a 9-6 setback in game one before bouncing back with a 6-3 win over the Yellow Jackets in game two. The victory in game two marked Malone's first-ever in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
 
Game One Recap
In an inauspicious beginning to the G-MAC era of Malone baseball, the Pioneers stranded a conference record 18 runners on base. Not only was it a conference mark, but the 18 runners left on base tied for the 6th most-ever in a nine-inning game in NCAA DII baseball history. In the final four innings alone, Malone stranded 11 runners on base, leaving the bags loaded in the 6th, 7th, and 9th innings and two on in the 8th.
 
Meanwhile on the mound, 2016 GLIAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year Braun Miller (1-1) had a rough go of it in his G-MAC debut, allowing a career-high seven earned runs over 5.1 innings.
 
Malone had no trouble at all putting runners on base against the Yellow Jackets whose pitching staff entered the weekend with a 2.04 WHIP. After three straight singles in the top of the first, Matt Noel delivered a bases-clearing double to put the Pioneers up 3-0.
 
Cedarville registered two runs in the bottom of the second before a sacrifice fly from Austin White in the top of the third gave Malone a 4-2 edge. The Yellow Jackets took advantage of a pair of walks and a pair of extra-base hits to score four more runs in the bottom of the third to turn a two-run deficit into a two-run lead.
 
Malone tacked on a run in the top of the fourth on an RBI double from Keanan Locke, but a two-run homerun by Cedarville's Marshall Johnson gave the Jackets an 8-5 advantage in the bottom of the sixth.
 
The Pioneers tallied their sixth run in the top of the eighth, but Cedarville responded with a run of its own in the bottom half. Malone loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth, but failed to come up with the big hit as Cedarville prevailed 9-6.
 
Locke led Malone with three hits and three runs scored while Brenden Wells added three hits and a pair of runs. Zach Mottice recorded a pair of singles. Ryan Sarbaugh added a double.
 
Game Two Recap
The Pioneers reversed their late game-one struggles with two runs in the top of the first. Nate Cobb led off the game with a walk before Joe Crank was plunked to put runners on first and second. After a double steal moved runners to second and third, Brenden Wells and Keanan Locke followed with back-to-back RBI groundouts to give Malone a 2-0 lead without the benefit of a base hit.
 
The 2-0 lead would hold until the top of the sixth when Locke delivered an RBI single to make it 3-0. Two batters later, first baseman Ryan Sarbaugh came through with two-run single to increase the Malone lead to 5-0.
 
Cedarville plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth before Zach Mottice scored on a passed ball in the top of the seventh. After the Yellow Jackets plated another run in the bottom of the sixth, Pioneer reliever Gunnar Smeyres came in to retire the final two batters and give Malone the 6-3 victory.
 
The Pioneers managed just five hits in the contest but took advantage of six walks as they picked up the win. Brenden Wells notched a pair of hits including a double. Nate Cobb walked three times, stole a pair of bases, and scored twice.
 
Pioneer starting pitcher Joshua Hurford was outstanding once again on Friday and improved the 3-0 on the season after allowing just one earned run over 5.1 innings pitched. On the season, Hurford has given up just two earned over 20.2 innings and sports a tremendous 0.87 ERA.
 
Up Next
Roscoe Blackburn, who has posted a perfect 0.00 ERA, is expected to take the mound ton Saturday as Malone is slated for another twinbill against Cedarville. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12:00 pm.