The Malone University baseball team bounced back from a 1-0 walk-off loss in game one to earn a 5-4 come-from-behind victory in game two of a Great Midwest Athletic Conference doubleheader against Davis & Elkins College Saturday afternoon in Elkins, West Virginia. Despite seeing their 10-game winning streak snapped in the opener, the Pioneers improved to 13-7 in the G-MAC, and 31-15 overall with the win in game two.

Game One Recap
Coming into the contest hitting .285 as a team against lefties, compared to .342 against right-handed pitchers, the Malone offense mustered up a total of just four hits in the seven-inning contest against D&E starter Austin Main. The Senator southpaw held Malone hitless until the top of the fourth when Nate Cobb singled to leadoff the frame. Brenden Wells added a single two batters later, but an inning-ending double play kept the game scoreless.

Austin White singled in the fifth and Wells singled again in the seventh, but another inning-ending play in the final frame left Main in line for the shutout.

The Senator offense totaled 10 hits in the contest, but was kept off the board until the final at-bat by starter Eric Mullet and reliever Jordan Yoder (2-3) who managed to escape multiple jams. The seventh time was the charm for Davis & Elkins who took advantage of a leadoff HBP before Senator outfielder Robbie McKinney eventually came through with the two-out game-winning base hit.  McKinney finished the game 4-for-4 at the dish.

Game Two Recap
Malone fell behind early, allowing two runs in the bottom of the first, but cut the deficit in half with a run in the top of the second when Andy Fletcher scored on a D&E wild pitch. In the bottom of the third, the Senators plated two more runs to take a 4-1 advantage.

Neither team would score until Malone tallied a run in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded, Nate Cobb drew a five-pitch walk to cut the margin to 4-2.

An inning later, the Pioneers made their move with three runs in the frame to go ahead 5-4. Ryan Sarbaugh tied it up with a two-run double into the right field corner.  Damian Maglione followed with a suicide squeeze play to put Malone on top.

Davis & Elkins loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Malone closer Gunnar Smeyres struck out a batter and induced a lazy fly ball to center to end the ball game. While Smeyres picked up his eighth save of the season, Braun Miller (3-3) earned the W after tossing 4.2 innings of scoreless relief. Miller allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out three batters as he watched the Pioneer offense rally for the win.

Cobb, Sarbaugh, and Brenden Wells each collected two hits in the contest.

Up Next
The Pioneers will close out the regular season next weekend with a four-game series against Ohio Valley at Kent State.