The Malone University baseball team will play a pair of Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) doubleheaders over Easter weekend as it welcomes Alderson Broaddus University and Davis & Elkins College from the Mountain State to the Buckeye State.
The Pioneers will face AB on Friday, March 30th beginning at 1:00 pm before facing D&E on Saturday, March 31st starting at 12:00 pm. Since both doubleheaders were originally scheduled to be played on the road, Malone will be designated as the visiting team on the scoreboard and will bat first in all four games.
GameDay
3/30 Malone vs. Alderson Broaddus (DH) – 1:00 pm
3/31 Malone vs. Davis & Elkins (DH) – 12:00 pm
Live Stats:
portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
Twitter:
@BaseballMaloneU
Series History
Meeting both teams for the very first time last season, Malone went 3-1 in a four-game home series against Alderson Broaddus which included a seven-inning no-hitter by
Joshua Hurford. The Pioneers also went 3-1 in a weekend series at Davis & Elkins last April in which the Senators were held to exactly one run in three of the four outings.
Team Comparison
| Category |
Malone |
AB |
D&E |
| Record |
15-9 (5-3 G-MAC) |
3-17 (1-7) |
4-21 (0-8) |
| Avg |
.284 |
.246 |
.241 |
| OBP |
.400 |
.310 |
.327 |
| Runs/Gm |
5.7 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
| HR |
4 |
20 |
10 |
| SB |
49 |
11 |
20 |
| ERA |
4.05 |
8.61 |
9.26 |
| WHIP |
1.33 |
1.93 |
2.25 |
| K/9IP |
7.5 |
6.1 |
8.2 |
Malone Notes - Roster |
Schedule |
Stats
- The Pioneers, who were tied for 10th in the latest Midwest Region Poll, are coming off a 3-1 mark in four G-MAC games last weekend and a non-conference loss to #15 Mercyhurst on Monday.
- Junior designated hitter Austin White delivered his first homer of the season at Merychurst after going 5-for-6 with four doubles and four RBI in a doubleheader sweep of Ohio Valley last Saturday. White is hitting .375 through 48 at bats this season and .476 over the last nine games since Malone returned from spring break.
- Over that same time span, freshman right fielder Turner Hill is batting .382 with a team-high 13 hits. Hill has reached base via hit or walk in 19 straight games to begin his career.
- Sophomore center fielder Nate Cobb has been just as good at setting the table, reaching base in 23 consecutive games this season. The Pioneer leadoff man has posted a .475 OBP and is tied for second in the G-MAC with 15 steals.
- Junior shortstop Joe Crank is 4th in the G-MAC with a .485 on-base percentage and is tied for the team-lead with Cobb in runs (20) and RBI with Todd Ropp (17).
- Third baseman Damian Maglione (.293 avg) has 14 RBI this season and has been the toughest Pioneer to strikeout, averaging one per every 9.1 at bats.
- Catcher Matt Noel, an All-Conference selection last season is hitting .333 over the last 12 games, a span that includes six multi-hit performances.
- Second baseman Zach Mottice, who returned to the Malone lineup last weekend following an injury, carries a modest five-game hit streak into the weekend as well as an eight-game stretch of scoring at least one run. Mottice hit .391 in eight games against AB and D&E last spring.
- Against those same two opponents, senior starters Joshua Hurford and Roscoe Blackburn went a combined 4-0 with 27 strikeouts in 29 innings. It has been much more of the same this spring for the duo, who are a combined 6-2 with 64 Ks in 68.1 IP.
- Hurford is 2-1 and his 0.57 ERA is third-lowest among starters in NCAA Division II. He is also sixth in the nation in WHIP (0.73) and seventh with a 14.5 strikeout to walk ratio (29:2).
- Blackburn is 4-1 and ranks 16th in DII with a 1.22 ERA. He leads Malone and is 6th in the G-MAC with 35 strikeouts.
- Sophomore righty Eric Mullet has quietly become an ace in his own right, ranking 15th in DII in ERA (1.20) and second in the G-MAC with a .178 batting average against. Mullet has struck out 27 in 30 innings this season.
- Formidable freshman lefty Clay Cooper, the Pioneers' fourth starter, is 2-0 in his last three starts with a 3.21 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 14 innings. He has limited opponents to a .210 batting average against this season.
- In the last 16 games in which Hurford, Blackburn, Mullet, or Cooper has started, Malone is 13-3 with the three losses by six combined runs.
Alderson Broaddus Notes - Roster |
Schedule |
Stats
- The Battlers have struggled lately, losing six in a row and 12 of their last 13 contests. Over that span, they have averaged just 2.5 runs a game. On the season, AB is bottom-10 in the nation in OBP, but is second in the G-MAC in homeruns.
- G-MAC All-Conference right fielder Chuck Hooker (.319, 7 HR, 21 RBI) and second baseman Lane Casto (.349 avg) lead the offense while Gordon Swiger (0-4, 5.66 ERA) and Zach Salmon (1-3, 6.75) lead the rotation. Salmon held the Pioneers to one run over seven innings in a start last spring.
Davis & Elkins Notes - Roster |
Schedule |
Stats
- The Senators, who are scheduled to face Walsh on Friday, enter the weekend on a 10-game losing skid. During the stretch, they have allowed over 11 runs per game.
- First baseman Maxx Mahon (.317, 5 HR, 16 RBI) and third baseman Chase DeGrood (.310 avg) pace the D&E lineup.
- Senior lefthander Austin Main, who is 5th in the G-MAC with 36 strikeouts, tossed a complete game shutout vs. Malone in 2017.
