A day after dropping a doubleheader decision to Trevecca Nazarene University, the Malone University baseball team turned the tables with a twinbill sweep of the Trojans Saturday afternoon in Nashville. The Pioneers relied on a clutch pitching performance from freshman righty Eric Mullet in a 6-2 win in game one before breaking out the bats in an offensive explosion in the series finale.
Malone tied season-highs with 18 runs on 20 hits and evened the four-game series with an 18-6 marathon victory in the nightcap. The Pioneers improved to 10-6 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) and 22-14 overall. Trevecca Nazarene is now 18-19 overall but maintain a two-game lead over the Pioneers with a 12-4 mark in conference.
Game One Recap
After tripling to leadoff the contest, Nate Cobb came in to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brenden Wells to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead. Trevecca would take the lead in the bottom of the inning with a two-out two-run double.
Cobb would knot the game up at 2-2 with an RBI groundout in the top of third before Keanan Locke delivered a solo blast to deep left to give Malone a 3-2 lead an inning later.
The Pioneers collected three insurance runs in the top of the seventh before holding on for the 6-2 victory. After doubling to leadoff the inning, Locke scored on an RBI single from Austin White to make it 4-2. Cobb came through once again with run-scoring single before a sacrifice fly from Joe Crank completed the scoring.
After allowing two runs in the bottom of the first, Malone starter Eric Mullet was outstanding down the stretch, tossing six scoreless innings to earn the complete game victory. Mullet surrendered just five hits (three in the first inning) and a lone walk in the contest as he improved to 4-1 on the campaign.
The Pioneers collected nine hits in game one including three each from Locke and Tom Eslich. Brenden Wells, who entered the contest with a 24-game hitting streak, saw his impressive run come to an end after going 0-for-3 at the dish.
Game Two Recap
The Trojans looked to be in complete control early on, chasing Malone starter Kyle Kovach with five runs in the bottom of the second inning while holding Malone scoreless over the first three innings.
The Pioneers finally began to chip away with two runs in the fourth to start a string of five straight innings scoring at least two runs. Ryan Sarbaugh started the rally with a one-out double and later scored on a Tom Eslich RBI single. Eslich scored on a Zach Mottice double to make it 5-2.
In the top of the fifth, the Pioneers took advantage of four base hits and a TNU fielding error to take a 6-5 lead. Two runs scored on the error and two runs scored on a Mottice single.
Malone increased its lead to 9-5 with three runs in the top of the sixth. Following back-to-back HBPs to lead off the inning, Matt Noel belted a two-run double off the center field fence. He would come in to score on single from Ryan Sarbaugh.
Trevecca tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth, but Malone broke it open with three more runs in the seventh. After tripling to leadoff the frame, Nate Cobb scored on a sacrifice fly from Joe Crank. Two batters later, Keanan Locke smashed a two-run bomb over the left field fence to give Malone a 12-6 edge.
The Pioneers added six runs of insurance in the eighth to go ahead 18-6. An RBI single from Crank, a TNU throwing error, and a Sarbaugh single made it 15-6. Austin White clubbed a three-run homer down the left field line to close out the Pioneer scoring.
Christian Specht (2-1) allowed just one run in 3.2 innings of relief of Kovach to earn the victory on the mound.
All nine Pioneers in the starting lineup had at least one base hit. Ryan Sarbaugh tied a career-high with four hits. Locke and Mottice collected three hits apiece. Noel, White, and Eslich each recorded a pair of base knocks. Brenden Wells also added two hits to go along with four runs scored.
Up Next
The Pioneers are slated to take on Gannon University on Wednesday, April 19th in a non-conference home doubleheader beginning at 1:00 pm.
