The Malone University baseball team extended its winning streak to eight straight games as it wrapped up the non-conference portion of the schedule with a doubleheader against Ohio Dominican University at Munson Stadium Wednesday afternoon. The Pioneers never trailed in either game of the twinbill, claiming an 8-5 victory in the opener before pocketing a 6-2 victory in the nightcap.  The Pioneers, who upped their record to 28-14 on the season, are in the middle of their longest win streak since winning nine straight back in 2012.
 
Game One Recap
The Pioneers jumped on the Panthers for two runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back.  Brenden Wells, who became the all-time triples leader earlier this season, plated the game's first run with an RBI three-bagger in the inning. He would score to make it 2-0 just one pitch later when Keanan Locke reached on an infield single.
 
Malone added a pair of runs in the bottom of the second on back-to-back squeeze plays from Nate Cobb and Joe Crank. The Panthers cut the lead in half with a two-out double in the top of the third before scoring a third run in the fourth on a passed ball.
 
Leading 4-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Pioneers broke it open with four more runs. Following back-to-back bunt singles from Zach Mottice and Nate Cobb, Brenden Wells delivered a bloop double to make it 5-3. After a passed ball allowed Cobb to score, Keanan Locke came through with a two-run blast over the left field fence. Locke's homerun, his seventh of the season and 16th of his career, gave the Pioneers an 8-3 advantage.
 
The Panthers tried to make a game of it in the top of the fifth, plating two two-out runs before Malone turned to Gunnar Smeyres to nail down the final out of the inning.  Smeyres shut down the Panthers in the sixth and the seventh to earn his sixth save of the season. The senior closer has been outstanding in the month of April and has not allowed an earned run in his last nine appearances, a span stretching 14.2 innings.
 
The Pioneers piled up 14 hits in the contest including five for extra bases. Locke finished a triple shy of the cycle with a single, double, and homerun. Mottice had three singles. Cobb and Wells each collected a pair of hits. Matt Noel added two hits including a double.
 
Game Two Recap
Keanan Locke kept up his red-hot afternoon with an RBI single in the bottom of the first to give Malone a 1-0 lead.  The Pioneers doubled their lead in the third when Brenden Wells drove in another run with a single of his own.
 
The score would remain 2-0 until the top of the fifth when the Panthers took advantage of a Malone fielding error to cut the lead to 2-1. Coming on in relief of Malone starter Jordan Knight, Jordan Yoder struck out a Panther batter to close the book on the inning. Knight was outstanding on the bump for the Pioneers, going 4.2 innings without allowing an earned run, scattering five hits as he picked up his third win of the season.
 
Leading by just one run once again, the Pioneers pulled away for the win with their second four-run inning of the afternoon. Wells drove in a run on a sacrifice fly before Matt Noel drove in another with a single to center to make it 4-1. Two pitches later, Ryan Sarbaugh smashed a two-run double to deep center to put Malone up 6-1.

The Panthers tacked on a harmless run in the sixth before the Pioneers closed out the 6-2 victory.
 
Nate Cobb led the Malone offense with three singles and three runs scored. Keanan Locke added a pair of base knocks.
 
Up Next
The Pioneers will travel to Davis & Elkins for a four-game series this weekend