The Malone University baseball team will play back-to-back home doubleheaders this Wednesday, April 19th and Thursday April 20th against Atlantic Region opponents Gannon University and Wheeling Jesuit University. The Pioneers will host Gannon on Wednesday at 11:00 pm before welcoming Wheeling Jesuit at 12:00 pm Thursday. Both doubleheaders will be played at Jackson High School in Massillon. Each of the four games will be seven-inning contests.
 
GameDay
(4/19) Malone vs. Gannon (DH) – 11:00 am*
(4/20) Malone vs. Wheeling Jesuit – 12:00 pm*
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/malone/baseball
Twitter: @BaseballMaloneU
*Note the time change from the originally scheduled 1:00 pm starts.
 
All-Time Series
Malone is 6-1 in seven all-time meetings with Gannon. The Pioneers have never faced Wheeling Jesuit.
 
Last Time Out
Malone is coming off a 2-2 weekend series with Trevecca Nazarene. The Pioneers evened the series with a doubleheader sweep of the Trojans on Saturday that including a season-high 18-run outburst in the series finale.
 
Gannon is coming off a 1-3 series with California (PA) that included a doubleheader split on Monday. Wheeling Jesuit, meanwhile, stopped an 11-game losing streak with a four-game series split with Shepherd last weekend.

Team Comparison

Category	Malone	Gannon	WJU
Record	22-14	16-16	4-26
Avg	.326	.318	.214
OBP	.408	.404	.293
Runs/Gm	6.0	6.6	2.8
HR	13	13	3
SB	43	21	16
ERA	3.85	6.42	5.89
WHIP	1.48	1.70	1.82
K/9IP	7.8	7.0	5.4

Malone Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• Matt Noel (.435, 1 HR, 26 RBI), Keanan Locke (.393, 5 HR, 35 RBI), and Brenden Wells (.390, 2 HR, 24 RBI) continue to thrive in the top half of the Malone order.
• Noel is 15th in the country in batting average, Locke leads the team with 10 multiple RBI games, and Wells has at least one hit in 32 of 36 games this season.
• Freshmen Nate Cobb (.348) and Zach Mottice (.336) have been linchpins in a Malone lineup that is 18th in the nation in team batting average. Cobb leads the team with 37 runs scored and is 10th in the nation with five triples.
• Tom Eslich and Ryan Sarbaugh are both coming off outstanding weeks in which they both hit better than .400. Eslich hit .421 (8-19) with four RBI while Sarbaugh hit .417 (10-24) with five RBI.
• At the front end of the starting pitching rotation, Roscoe Blackburn (2-1, 0.65 ERA) and Joshua Hurford (5-0, 1.59 ERA) both rank among the top-20 starting pitchers in the nation in ERA.
• Blackburn is averaging better a strikeout an inning (9.8 K/9IP) with a 1.19 WHIP. Hurford has posted a 1.06 WHIP with 35 strikeouts through 39.2 innings pitched.
• Freshmen Kyle Kovach (2-0, 2.78 ERA, 18 K) and Eric Mullet (4-1, 4.31 ERA, 30 K) have also excelled in their starting roles.
• Pioneer closer Gunnar Smeyres (2-2, 1.35 ERA, 4 SV) has not allowed an earned run in his last seven outings (11.1 IP) and is holding opponents to a .171 batting average against this season
• Malone is 10-4 this season when they are the home team or batted last in a neutral site game.
   

Gannon Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Golden Knights' lineup features eight players hitting .300 or better including leftfielder Kyle Cox who is hitting .386 and second baseman Gregory Nicolia who is hitting .379.
• Catcher Nate Cardy (.368) leads the team with six homers and 23 RBI.
• Gannon is just 3-7 on the road this season.
   

Wheeling Jesuit Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Cardinals are led by catcher Dalton Davis (.294, 9 RBI), a Canton native and Lake High School graduate, and first baseman RJ Harris (.286, 1 HR, 10 RBI).
• WJU is 0-12 on the road this season.