The Malone University baseball team wraps up its regular season this weekend with three games against Lake Erie College. The two teams will meet first on Saturday, April 5th at Jackson High School in Massillon for a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 pm. On Sunday April 6th, Lake Erie will host the Pioneers for a single nine-inning game starting at 6:00 pm. Sunday's game will be played at Classic Park, home of the Lake County Captains, in Eastlake, Ohio.
 
On Saturday, Malone will celebrate its eight graduating seniors: Cody Ballay, Trevor Beerman, Roscoe Blackburn, Andy Fletcher, Joshua Hurford, Todd Ropp, Dyllan West, and Jordan Yoder in between game one and two of the doubleheader. The Pioneers will also honor legendary head coach Bob Starcher, the all-time winningest coach in Malone history. Recipients of the Bob Starcher Memorial Scholarship will be announced prior to the Senior Day ceremony.
 
GameDay
5/5 Malone vs. Lake Erie (DH) – 2:00 pm
5/6 Malone at Lake Erie – 6:00 pm
Live Stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
Twitter: @BaseballMaloneU
 
Postseason Watch
The Pioneers enter the week in second-place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) North Division Standings. With a win this weekend, Malone will clinch a spot in next week's G-MAC Tournament. Malone is also currently sixth in the Midwest Region Rankings. The top eight teams in the Region at the end of the season will advance to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Series History
The Pioneers are 11-7 all-time against Lake Erie. The two squads last met in 2016 when Malone took three out of four from the Storm

Team Comparison

Malone	Category	Lake Erie
30-15 (16-8 G-MAC)	Record	16-25-1 (13-11 G-MAC)
.290	Avg	.271
.394	OBP	.359
5.9	Runs/Gm	5.2
12	HR	21
84	SB	41
4.06	ERA	6.40
1.37	WHIP	1.85
7.5	K/9 IP	8.7

Malone Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Pioneers are coming off a 5-1 week which included a 2-1 mark against Findlay in a weekend conference set. In the finale with the Oilers, the Pioneers lost a one-run lead in the top of the ninth, marking the first time since 2014 they lost a a game when leading after eight innings. They were undefeated in their previous 49 games when going into the ninth with a lead.
• Junior catcher Matt Noel hit .588 across the six games and was named the G-MAC North Player of the Week for his efforts. Noel is hitting .353 in conference games this season and has 12 multi-hit games on the year.
• Second baseman Zach Mottice hit .500 (8-for-16) last week to raise his average to .299 on the season. Mottice is second on the team with a .461 OBP and has reached base in 14 consecutive games.
• Freshman rightfielder Turner Hill leads team in OBP (.469), average (.356), and multi-hit games (14). Hill is hitting .472 (17-for-36) during a current 10-game hit streak.
• Shortstop Joe Crank and leftfielder Jacob Mottice each hit .400 during the six games last week. Crank collected two doubles and two triples and now leads the team with 19 extra-base hits and a .472 slugging percentage. Jacob Mottice collected his first collegiate extra-base hit, a triple, against Findlay on Sunday.
• Leadoff man Nate Cobb (.421 OBP) remains among the league leaders in runs (39) and stolen bases (28).
• Pioneer starting pitchers Roscoe Blackburn (8-2, 1.73 ERA, 66 K, 78 IP) and Eric Mullet (7-0, 2.00 ERA, 60 K, 63 IP) rank first and second in the G-MAC in both wins and ERA respectively while Joshua Hurford (3-3, 2.37 ERA) leads the conference in K:BB ratio (43:7) and WHIP (0.95).
• Blackburn, last year's G-MAC Pitcher of the Year, is coming off of a 10-inning complete game victory last Saturday when he became the first Malone pitcher to collect eight victories in a season since Jared Messer had nine in 2012.
• As a whole, the Malone pitching staff leads the G-MAC in ERA, WHIP, and shutouts (8). The Pioneers own a league-best 3.34 ERA in conference games this season.
   

Lake Erie Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Storm are 3-3 in the last six games, including a 2-1 mark against Hillsdale last weekend. In a non-conference win against Fairmont State on Tuesday, Lake Erie set a G-MAC record with 31 runs scored.
• The offense is led by freshman Trace Peterson (.324, 8 HR, 26 RBI) and senior Wes Birchmeier (.309, 5 HR, 29 RBI). Birchmeier pulled off a unique feat in a loss to Gannon on Wednesday, playing all nine fielding positions in a single game.
• Senior righthander David Lemasters (3-3, 2.67 ERA, 67 K, 54 IP, .208 batting average against) anchors the pitching staff. He is joined by G-MAC North Pitcher of the Week Michael Stryffeler (4-3, 5.19 ERA, 11.8 K/9IP)