The Malone University baseball team, which enters the week in first place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, welcomes Alderson Broaddus University this weekend for a four-game G-MAC series. The Pioneers and Battlers are scheduled to play a pair of doubleheaders on Friday, April 12th and Saturday, April 13th, both beginning at 1:00 pm at Jackson High School in Massillon.
 
During Saturday's doubleheader, Malone will celebrate its three graduating seniors: Matt Noel, Anthony Stillwagon, and Austin White in between game one and two. The Pioneers will also honor legendary head coach Bob Starcher, the all-time winningest coach in Malone history, prior to the start of game one. Recipients of the Bob Starcher Memorial Scholarship will be announced in a pre-game ceremony.
 
GameDay
4/12 Malone vs. Alderson Broaddus (DH) – 1:00 pm
4/13 Malone vs. Alderson Broaddus (DH) – 1:00 pm
Live stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
Twitter: @BaseballMaloneU
 
Series History
Since joining the G-MAC for the 2017 season, Malone is 5-1 against Alderson Broaddus, including a doubleheader sweep last season that featured two shutouts.

Team Comparison 

Malone	Category	ABU
25-11 (14-4)	W-L (G-MAC)	12-20-1 (10-8)
.277	Avg	.262
.375	OBP	.376
.374	Slugging	.385
5.8	Runs/GM	5.7
14	HR	22
53	SB	28
3.26	ERA	7.40
1.35	WHIP	1.85
7.9	K/9IP	6.9

Malone Notes

• The Pioneers are winners of 15 of their last 16 games, including 14 in a row in G-MAC play. Malone is coming off of a 4-2 win at Tiffin on Wednesday in which Anthony Stillwagon earned his first career victory in his first collegiate start.
• Malone starting pitching has been exceptional this season, posting a 2.73 ERA. Overall, Malone's team ERA of 3.26 is eighth-best in NCAA Division II.
• Tommy Walker (3-0, 1.32 ERA, 28 K, 41 IP) is fifth in DII and first in the G-MAC in ERA and has not allowed in earned run in each of his last three starts spanning 18.2 innings pitched.
• Christian Specht (3-1, 2.14 ERA, 38 K, 42 IP) is second in the G-MAC in ERA. He pitched eight innings of shutout baseball in his last start against Findlay.
• Tyrus Jones (3-1, 3.00 ERA, 23 K, 36.0 IP) and Eric Mullet (5-2, 3.29 ERA, 44 K, 54.2 IP) are 7th and 10th in the G-MAC in ERA, respectively. Jones leads the league in opponent batting average (.169) and WHIP (0.97) while Mullet leads the league in innings and is seventh in strikeouts.
• Clyde Yoder (5-1, 3.52 ERA, 38 K, 30.2 IP) is tied with Mullet for the conference lead in wins while reliever Clay Cooper (3-1, 3.49 ERA, 29 K, 28.1 IP) leads the G-MAC with six saves.
• Among the offensive leaders in the G-MAC, senior Matt Noel is fifth in the conference in RBI (35).
• Zach Mottice leads the G-MAC with 26 walks and leads Malone with a .429 on-base percentage.
• Tyson Gingerich is fifth in the G-MAC in walks (23), fourth in stolen bases (14), and ninth in runs (29).
• Jacob Mottice is fifth in the league in runs scored (31) and is coming off of a season-high three-hit effort at Tiffin. He is batting .394 with five multi-hit performances in his last nine games.
• Cade Mottice is hitting a team-high .324, including a .417 mark in his last 15 games.
• During those 15 games, senior first baseman Austin White is hitting .320. On the season he is third on the team with a .294 average.
• Turner Hill is second on the team in average, batting .305. He is ninth in the G-MAC in hits (39) and leads the league with seven sacrifices. As a team, Malone is second in the nation with 43 sacrifices.
• The Pioneers are 8-5 at home this season, including wins in eight straight. Malone is also 24-2 when holding opponents to five runs or fewer, 8-2 in one-run games, 15-3 when scoring first, and 17-2 when out-hitting the opponent.
   

Alderson Broaddus Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• Coming into the weekend in sixth place in the G-MAC, the Battlers are just 2-5 over the last seven games, including a doubleheader split with Charleston on Tuesday and a 1-3 record during a four-games series with Tiffin last weekend.
• The Battler offense is led catcher Vincenzo Rauson (.372, 2 HR, 17 RBI), centerfielder Todd Sekowski (.351, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 11 SB), and shortstop Tyler Amedure (.313, 7 HR, 20 RBI). Rauso leads the G-MAC in on-base percentage (.522) while Sekowski (.670) and Amedure (.650) are both top-5 in slugging percentage.
• Zach Salmon (3-3, 4.61 ERA, 43 K, 41 IP) and Ryan Varley (3-3, 4.95 ERA, 38 K, 36.1 IP) lead the AB pitching staff. Salmon was on the mound for the Battlers' 2017 win over the Pioneers and gave up just one earned run during a loss to Malone last spring.