The Malone University baseball team improved to 20-9 on the season and 10-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with a 4-2 win over Hillsdale College on Saturday in a mutual G-MAC North opener. The Chargers, who entered the weekend in first place in the G-MAC, dropped to 11-2 in conference play and 14-16 overall.
 
Recap
In a battle of pitching aces, the Pioneers got to Hillsdale starter Will Kruse, the defending G-MAC North Pitcher of the Week, for a run in the first and a run in the second on a pair of throwing errors by the righty.
 
An errant pickoff attempt at first base in the bottom of the first allowed Nate Cobb, who singled to lead off the inning, to trot home from third for the game's first run. Another error on a bunt by Zach Mottice in the bottom of the second allowed younger brother Jacob Mottice to score from second base and put Malone ahead 2-0.
 
Facing Malone starting pitcher Roscoe Blackburn, the Chargers took advantage of three straight two-out singles to trim the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the third. Backed by an outstanding defensive effort, Blackburn settled in to hold Hillsdale scoreless over the next four innings, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth.
 
Malone tacked on a run on a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk by Austin White with no outs in the fifth before adding another tally in the sixth. A two-out double by Cobb advanced Clay Wisner, who singled earlier in the frame to third base. Wisner then made it a 4-1 game, taking home on a Hillsdale wild pitch.
 
Battling through a rising pitch count that would reach into the 130s, Blackburn surrendered back-to-back two-out hits in the eighth that allowed Hillsdale to cut the margin to 4-2. He fought through a nine-pitch at-bat, though, to retire the next Charger batter on a swinging strikeout to keep the lead intact. The senior lefty totaled eight strikeouts over eight innings pitched as he improved to 6-1 on the season.
 
Christian Specht worked around a two-out single in the top of the ninth to earn his second save of the season and close the door on Malone's 20th win of the year.
 
Cobb, the defending G-MAC North Player of the Week, led Malone with three hits, two runs, and a stolen base.
 
Up Next
Malone will meet Hillsdale twice more on Sunday in a doubleheader at Jackson High School beginning at 1:00 pm.