The Malone University baseball team advanced to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship by virtue of a pair of shutout victories in elimination games over Ohio Valley University and Trevecca Nazarene University, Friday evening in Mason, Ohio.
 
The Pioneers knocked off #5 seed Ohio Valley and avenged an earlier loss in the Tournament with a 10-0 win in their first game of the day before eliminating #1 seed Trevecca Nazarene in an intense 1-0 triumph in Friday's nightcap.
 
Malone, now 3-1 in the Tournament, has eliminated three teams so far in the bracket, but will need to defeat #3 seed Kentucky Wesleyan College (3-0) twice on Saturday to bring home the Championship Trophy.
 
Malone vs. Ohio Valley Recap
Facing elimination for the second straight game, the Pioneers received another superb starting pitching performance, this time from sophomore lefty Braun Miller. Miller needed just seven pitches to work a 1-2-3 top of the first as he set the tone for a dominant outing. The 6'5" southpaw faced just four batters over the minimum, allowing four hits and two walks over eight innings. He struck out six and benefited from an outstanding Malone defensive effort that included two double plays and a diving catch from centerfielder Nate Cobb in the game's early going.
 
It was Cobb who got the offense rolling in the bottom of the first, drawing a four-pitch walk to lead off the frame. After moving to second on a sac bunt, then to third on a fly ball, Cobb came in to score on an infield single from G-MAC Player of the Year Keanan Locke.
 
Locke broke the game open two innings later, when he crushed his 8th homerun of the season deep over the left field wall. The three-run shot gave the Pioneers a 4-0 lead and a two-run double off the bat off Tom Eslich four batters later made it a 6-0 contest as Malone put up five runs in the inning.
 
Malone would put up three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Following another Cobb walk and a double from Joe Crank, Brenden Wells drove in a run on sacrifice fly before Locke drove in another with a sac fly of his own. Ryan Sarbaugh made it 9-0 when he singled in Matt Noel who doubled to right center three pitches earlier.
 
After watching Miller strand a runner in scoring position in the top of the seventh and eighth innings, Noel came through with an RBI single to plate Malone's 10th run in the bottom of the eighth to give the Pioneers a run-rule victory.
 
Noel, the G-MAC's leading hitter, tied a career-high with four hits in the contest. Keanan Locke, the league's top RBI man tied a career-high with five runs batted in. Nate Cobb, the G-MAC leader in runs scored, touched home three times in the contest as the Pioneers improved to 29-4 when he scores at least once. Tom Eslich and Joe Crank each collected two hits.
 
Braun Miller went the distance for his second complete game shutout of the season, needing just 96 pitches to finish off the gem. The eight-inning outing was the longest of his career.
 
Malone vs. Trevecca Nazarene Recap
In a fantastic postseason pitchers' duel between Malone's Eric Mullet and Trevecca's Mac Barnes, neither team could generate much offense as the two righties grinded out zero after zero.
 
Mullet went on to earn a no-decision, working 6.1 shutout innings, striking out three and limiting the Trojans to three walks and four base hits. With two of those hits coming in the bottom of the seventh, Malone called upon First Team All-Conference closer Gunnar Smeyres to limit the damage. The slow-working righty proceeded to strikeout a batter and induce an inning-ending groundout to keep the Trojans off the board.
 
After a two-out double off the bat of Brenden Wells in the top of the eighth, Trevecca called upon its own All-Conference reliever, Christian Lohr.  Lohr walked back-to-back batters to load the bases before escaping the jam with an inning-ending groundout.
 
In the bottom half, Smeyres struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing a single and a walk. Once again, though, he came through to get the Pioneers out of a jam with another ground ball out.
 
Damian Maglione singled to leadoff the top of the ninth and advanced to third on an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt attempt. With no outs in the inning, he represented the go-ahead run just 90 feet from home. Following a strikeout, G-MAC Freshman of the Year Nate Cobb executed a perfect suicide squeeze play to score Maglione and give Malone a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
 
Just as he has done all season, Smeyres (3-2) came up huge for the Pioneers, sitting the Trojans down in order in the final frame to clinch Malone's 1-0 victory and its first-ever appearance in the G-MAC Championship. Smeyres went 2.2 innings in the win, striking out five, including the final two batters of the game.
 
Maglione and Wells each collected two hits for the Pioneers.
 
Up Next
Malone will square off against Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday at 12:00 pm. The Pioneers took three of four from the Panthers earlier this season, including the final three in a row.