The Malone University baseball team firmly solidified itself into second place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) standings with a twinbill sweep of Kentucky Wesleyan College Sunday afternoon in Massillon, Ohio. Riding the arms of freshmen starting pitchers Eric Mullet and Kyle Kovach, Malone collected a 4-1 win in the opener before exploding for 20 hits in a 14-1 romp in the finale.
 
A weekend ahead of their four-game series with first-place Trevecca Nazarene, the Pioneers took three out of four from the Panthers to improve to 8-4 in the conference and 18-12 on the season.
 
Game One Recap
Mullet (3-1) was tremendous through the first five innings on Sunday, retiring the first 15 batters he faced before losing his perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout bid all at once on a leadoff homerun in the top of the sixth.
 
By that time, Malone was already leading 2-0 thanks to an RBI double in the first from Brenden Wells and a solo homerun from Ryan Sarbaugh in the bottom of the fourth. Sarbaugh's blast, a towering shot to right, was the first of the senior's career. Wells, who went 2-for-3 in the game, extended his hit streak to 19 straight.
 
The Pioneers used an RBI groundout from Keanan Locke and an RBI single from Matt Noel to tack on two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth before Gunnar Smeyres came on in relief of Mullet to close the door in the top of the seventh.
 
Mullet finished the game with five strikeouts compared to just one walk and four hits in 6.1 innings.
 
Game Two Recap
Kyle Kovach (2-0) didn't go as deep into his perfect game bid as did Mullet, but his outing was brilliant nonetheless. The freshman righty retired the first 11 batters of the game before another KWC homerun in the top of the fourth spoiled the shutout. At the time, the solo homerun cut the Malone lead from 2-1 once again, but the Pioneers collected 12 runs in the next three innings to pull away.
 
Keanan Locke's two-run double down the left field line in the bottom of the third broke a 0-0 deadlock before a four-run fourth blew things open.
 
Damian Maglione's RBI double made it 3-1 before a Zach Mottice single, a Nate Cobb triple, and a Joe Crank single made it 6-1. The Pioneers collected five more runs in the fifth to put the game completely out of reach.
 
Another RBI double from Maglione, an RBI single from Mottice, and an RBI groundout from Cobb increased the Pioneers' lead to 9-1. Two pitchers later, Joe Crank clubbed his first career homerun to put Malone up 11-1.
 
With the red-hot bats still churning, Malone added three runs in the sixth. Mottice's double to left center followed Maglione's RBI groundout before Malone closed the book on the scoring. The 14 runs marked the second-most for the Pioneers this season and the most scored at home since plating 17 runs against Notre Dame (OH) last March.
 
In total, Malone collected 20 hits as all nine guys in the starting lineup recorded at least one as did pinch hitter Todd Ropp. Mottice led the way with three hits and four RBI. Crank tallied three hits and three RBI, Keanan Locke added three hits and a pair of ribbies. Cobb, Maglione, Matt Noel, and Tom Eslich each notched a two hits apiece. Brenden Wells was 1-for-4 in the contest and reached 20 straight games with a hit.
 
Lost in all the offense was Kovach's outstanding performance on the hill as he would allow just three hits while striking out five over six innings. Kovach teamed with relievers Cody Ballay (1 IP, 1 K), Chandler Stahl (1 IP, 3 K), and Tommy Walker (1 IP, 0 H) to complete the victory.
 
Up Next
Malone will visit Salem International University this Tuesday, April 9th for a non-conference doubleheader starting at 12:00 pm.