The Malone University baseball team extended its win streak to double digits with a doubleheader sweep of Davis & Elkins College Friday afternoon in Elkins, West Virginia. The Pioneers took game one 2-1 and clinched their first-ever berth in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament in the process. Malone captured game two by an 11-1 final to improve to 12-6 in the G-MAC and 30-14 overall. The 30-win season is Malone's first since becoming a member of the NCAA five years ago.
Game One Recap
The Pioneers received another stellar pitching performance from
Roscoe Blackburn (4-1) who tossed a career-high eight innings in the victory. After allowing a two-out run in the bottom of the first, Blackburn put up seven straight zeroes before departing in the ninth. The junior lefty scattered seven hits and a walk while striking out eight in the nine-inning contest.
Davis & Elkins countered with senior righty Tyler Honeycutt who was equally impressive in the complete game loss, surrendering just two runs while striking out nine.
Malone plated its first run in the top of the fourth when
Joe Crank, who doubled down the right field line with one out in the inning, came in to tie it up on a two-out RBI single from
Keanan Locke.
The score would remain tied until the top of the eighth when Crank came through again with a clutch RBI single to score
Zach Mottice.
Still leading 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, the Pioneers went to the bullpen and close
Gunnar Smeyres. Smeyres proceeded to shut down the Senators in order to earn his conference-leading seventh save of the season and clinch Malone's ninth straight triumph.
Crank, Mottice,
Ryan Sarbaugh, and
Andy Fletcher each collected two hits for the Pioneers.
Game Two Recap
After being held mostly in check during game one, the Pioneer offense exploded for 16 hits in the seven-inning 11-1 victory. All nine batters in the starting lineup recorded at least one base hit and one run scored as the Pioneers tallied at least one run in each of the first five innings.
Keanan Locke plated the game's first run in the top of the first with a run-scoring double. One batter later,
Matt Noel drove in another with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1. Davis & Elkins scored its only run of the affair on a passed ball in the bottom half of the inning.
Malone broke the game open with four runs in the second. Following an RBI single from
Zach Mottice,
Joe Crank delivered a three-run bomb to give the Pioneers a 6-1 lead. Crank's homerun, a line shot to deep right field, was his second of the season.
An inning later, the Pioneers tacked on three more runs to make it a 9-1 ball game. A D&E throwing error resulted in two of the three runs before Mottice doubled in a run to account for the third. Malone added a run in the fourth on an RBI single from Noel and then another in the fifth on a Crank sacrifice fly.
Mottice (two doubles), Locke (three doubles), and
Ryan Sarbaugh (one double) each recorded three hits in game two.
Nate Cobb added a pair.
Lost in the menagerie of offense was another outstanding pitching performance by
Joshua Hurford who did not allow an earned run in a complete game effort. Hurford allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out seven batters to improve his record to 6-0 on the season. The tremendous outing for Hurford, in which he lowered his ERA to 1.51, was his fourth complete game of the season.
Up Next
The Pioneers will remain in West Virginia for another doubleheader on Saturday with the Senators. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 pm.
