The Malone University baseball team went 1-1 on day one of their spring break trip to Tucson, Arizona, defeating Grand View University 9-4 before falling to NCAA DII #7 Azusa Pacific 3-0 Friday afternoon. The Pioneers are now 2-2 on the young season. They will be back at it on Saturday when they meet Concordia St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State in a pair of non-conference contests.
 
Game One Recap
In his first career start, freshman righty Eric Mullet had a no-hitter going through six before the Vikings finally got to him in the top of the seventh. By that time, Malone had spotted the rookie a 6-0 lead.
 
Malone scored three runs in the bottom of the second on a two-run single from freshman second baseman Zach Mottice and an RBI fielder's choice from fellow freshman Nate Cobb. The Pioneers added to their lead an inning later on back-to-back doubles by Matt Noel and Ryan Sarbaugh. Malone plated two more runs in unconventional ways in the bottom half of the fifth. Joe Crank scored the Pioneers' fifth run on a wild pitch before Keanan Locke scored the sixth, swiping home as part of a well-executed double steal.
 
Mullet (1-0) lost his no-hit bid with two straight singles in the top half of the seventh. After a strikeout, Mullet induced a ground ball with a chance to end the inning but a costly error spoiled the shutout effort as a run came around on the play. Two more unearned runs scored before Mullet was able to close out the seventh with his eighth strikeout of the afternoon.
 
With Malone leading 6-3 in the bottom of the inning, Keanan Locke gave the Pioneers some insurance runs with a two-run shot to deep center.
 
Another Malone error in the top of the eighth led to an unearned that cut the Vikings' deficit to 8-4, but the Pioneers added another run on an RBI triple by Joe Crank in the bottom half and Grand View would not come any closer. Freshman reliever Kyle Kovach struck out two in the ninth to help Malone preserve the 9-4 victory.
 
Crank, Locke, Noel, Sarbaugh, and Mottice each collected two hits apiece for the Pioneers. Locke recorded a double and two stolen bases, while freshman speedster Nate Cobb swiped two bags of his own.
 
Game Two Recap
In Friday's nightcap against nationally-ranked Azusa Pacific, the Pioneers stood toe-to-toe with the Cougars for much of the game, but a three-run bottom of the seventh proved to be their undoing.
 
Starting pitcher Roscoe Blackburn went 5.1 scoreless innings before getting the hook in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on first and third, senior reliever Gunnar Smeyres came in and punched out back-to-back hitters to end the threat.
 
Smeyres (0-1) was charged with the tough-luck loss after three Malone errors in the top of the seventh inning resulted in three unearned runs.
 
Still trailing 3-0 in the top of the ninth, the Pioneers loaded the bases with nobody out and the potential go-ahead run at the plate. Brenden Wells promptly lined into a double-play to cool the threat before a soft ground ball ended the game. The Pioneers were haunted by the double play in the loss as they rolled into five twin-killings.

Nate Cobb and Joe Crank led the Malone offense with two hits each.