The Malone University baseball team will make its first-ever appearance in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament this Wednesday, May 10th at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. In their first season in the G-MAC, the Pioneers clinched the #2 seed after posting a 14-8 record in league play. Malone will meet #5 seed Ohio Valley University (11-11 G-MAC) in the opening round of the six-team, double-elimination Tournament.
 

GameDay (5/10) Malone vs. Ohio Valley – 10:00 am on Legacy Field Live Audio: portal.stretchinternet.com/gmac Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/ab/softball Twitter: @BaseballMaloneU

Tournament Central

Brackets | Final Standings | Final Stats | Prasco Park | Championship Program

 
What's at Stake?
The winner of the G-MAC Championship will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as one of eight teams in the Midwest Regional.
 
The winner of Wednesday's contest will move on to play the winner of #4 Alderson Broaddus and #3 Kentucky Wesleyan while the loser will meet the loser of #6 Cedarville and #1 Trevecca Nazarene in an elimination game Wednesday. The Championship game will be played on Saturday, May 13th at 12:00 pm. To view a complete bracket, please click the link above. Please note that there are three possible brackets based on the results of different elimination games.
 
All-Time Series
The Pioneers are 3-4 in seven all-time meetings with the Fighting Scots. The two teams most recently met this past Sunday, splitting a season-ending doubleheader.
 
Postseason History
The Pioneers will be making their third straight appearance in their respective conference tournament. Last season, Malone won its first postseason game in the NCAA Division II era, defeating top-seeded Grand Valley State on day two of the GLIAC Tournament. The last league championship for the Pioneers came in 2009 when they captured the American Mideast Conference title.

Team Comparison

Malone	Category	OVU
32-16	Record	27-21
.331	Avg	.317
.410	OBP	.407
5.8	Runs/Gm	6.3
19	HR	12
56	SB	45
3.43	ERA	5.64
1.40	WHIP	1.72
7.8	K/9 IP	5.2

Malone Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Pioneers enter the Tournament ranked as one of the top-15 teams in DII in team batting average. Five guys in the starting nine come in hitting .350 or better.
• The middle of the Malone order features two of the three guys in the conference hitting better than .400. Senior outfielder Keanan Locke, one of the leading candidates for G-MAC Player of the Year, is hitting .413 with seven homeruns and 47 RBI. Sophomore catcher Matt Noel (.415, 33 RBI, .491 OBP) continues to lead the league in hitting as he has all season.
• Senior rightfielder Brenden Wells (.367, 3 HR, 32 RBI) leads the Pioneers with 21 multi-hit contests. In five previous postseason games during his sophomore and junior seasons, Wells hit .523 (11-21).
• Centerfielder Nate Cobb and second baseman Zach Mottice have been exceptional during their rookie campaigns. Cobb (.358 avg, .447 OBP, 47 R, 24 SB) has reached base in 46 of 48 games this season and the Pioneers are 27-4 when he scores at least one run.
• Over the last 25 games of the season, Mottice (.379 avg, .451 OBP) hit a team-high .440 with an even .500 OBP. He went 4-for-6 in Sunday's twinbill against Ohio Valley.
• During that same time frame, first baseman Ryan Sarbaugh (.290 avg, .397 OBP) hit .350 while shortstop Joe Crank (.355 OBP) drove in 19 runs.
• Sophomore transfers Damian Maglione and Tom Eslich have fared well in their first season with the Pioneers. Maglione (.322, .385 OBP) splits time at third base with Austin White (.265 avg, 2 HR, 16 RBI). Eslich (.299, .377 OBP), Noel's understudy behind the plate, is hitting .347 over his last 14 starts.
• The Pioneer pitching staff is led by junior ace Roscoe Blackburn who leads the nation with a 0.64 ERA and is second in the G-MAC with 62 strikeouts. Blackburn is expected to take the mound against Ohio Valley on Wednesday.
• The Malone bullpen has allowed just one earned run over the last 30 innings of relief. Closer Gunnar Smeyres is 2-2 with a 0.98 ERA and a league-high nine saves.  Over his last 19 innings of work, he has not allowed a single earned run.
• Middle reliever Jordan Knight is 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA and has not allowed an earned run across his last 14 innings pitched.
• Malone is 17-4 in its last 21 games.

Ohio Valley Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• Third baseman Justin Gil (.389, 2 HR, 37 RBI) and centerfielder Travis Perkola (.381, 40 R, 34 RBI, 19 SB) lead the G-MAC's number two ranked scoring offense. The duo each recorded three hits in Sunday's doubleheader.
• Charles Emery, a .358 hitter who shares the team-lead with 40 runs scored, is likely to get the starting pitching assignment against Malone on Wednesday. Emery is 3-0 with a 3.15 ERA over his last three starts.
• The Fighting Scots were the five seed in the G-MAC Tournament as season ago when they were eliminated on day three. OVU is two years removed from reaching the G-MAC Championship in 2015.
• Ohio Valley enters the week having won 15 of its last 18 games.