The Malone University baseball team split a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) doubleheader with the University of Findlay on Sunday, winning game one 5-2 before falling 11-8 in the finale. The 1-1 day gives the Pioneers a 30-15 record through 45 games this season, including a 16-8 mark in the G-MAC. The Oilers are now 21-13 overall and 14-8 in the G-MAC.
 
Game One Recap
After taking game one of the three-game series from Findlay on Saturday, the Pioneers secured their second straight win over the Oilers and their fifth straight overall with a 5-2 win in Sunday's opener.
 
Malone scored its first run in the bottom of the third inning and led for the remainder of the seven-inning contest. With runners on second and third and just one out, the squeeze play was on, but a ball in the dirt allowed Zach Mottice to steal home and put the Pioneers up 1-0.
 
Malone scored twice more in the fourth when younger brother Jacob Mottice drove in a run with an RBI single and Matt Noel scored on an Oiler passed ball.
 
Findlay finally got on the board with a bases-loaded walk off of Malone starting pitcher Eric Mullet in the top of the fifth to make it a 3-1 game, but Malone plated two runs in the bottom half of the frame to widen the gap. An RBI triple by Joe Crank gave the Pioneers a 4-1 lead before a Findlay wild pitch allowed Crank to score the fifth run.
 
Trailing 5-1 entering the top of the seventh, Findlay managed a two-out tally, but Mullet induced a game-ending strikeout to secure the victory. The sophomore righty struck out seven Oilers in the complete game victory as he improved to 7-0 on the season.
 
Crank, Noel, Nate Cobb, and Turner Hill each finished with two hits to lead the Malone offense.
 
Game Two Recap
In an eventful first inning, the Oilers scored three unearned runs all with two outs to grab their first lead of the day. They then added another run in the top of the second to take a 4-0 advantage.
 
Malone answered with three unearned runs of their own in the bottom half of the second inning as the brothers Mottice delivered back-to-back run-scoring hits. Jacob Mottice drove in two runs with an RBI triple down the right field line and scored on an infield single by Zach Mottice three pitches later. Findlay got one of the runs back with a solo homerun to lead off the third.
 
Down 5-3 in the bottom of the third, Malone tied it on a two-run single by Matt Noel. After combining for 10 runs in the first three innings, neither team would score over the middle three frames as they went to the seventh tied at 5-5.
 
Findlay tallied runs in the seventh and eighth innings to go back in front 7-5, leaving Malone with just six outs to make up a two-run deficit. In the bottom of the eighth, a leadoff double by Noel and an RBI single by Clay Wisner off Findlay closer Josh Robinson, the G-MAC saves leader, cut the lead to 7-6 before an RBI groundout by Zach Mottice later in the inning gave Malone new life. Turner Hill put Malone in front with an RBI single, shifting momentum in favor of the home team.
 
Down 8-7 in their final at bat, the Oilers scored four loud runs in the top of the ninth to reclaim the lead. Seemingly shell-shocked, the Pioneers went down in order in the bottom of the ninth as the Oilers held on for the 11-8 victory. The loss was Malone's fourth straight in the third game of three-game series against G-MAC opponents.
 
Matt Noel finished with three hits, two runs, and two RBI to lead the Pioneer offense. Jacob Mottice and Zach Mottice each collected two hits and two RBI. Turner Hill added a double and a single.
 
Up Next
Now tied for second-place in the G-MAC standings, Malone will close out the regular season in a three-game series against Lake Erie next weekend.