The Malone University baseball team, victorious in 19 of its last 20 games, will look to extend its hot streak this weekend with four Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) road games against Ohio Valley University. Contests will take place at Bennett Stump Field in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
 
Originally slated to be played on April 19-20, the series has been moved up a day in an effort to avoid impending weather. The series will now begin on Thursday, April 18th with a doubleheader start time of 11:00 am.
 
The Pioneers enter the week in first place in the G-MAC Standings, owning a four-game cushion over second-place Trevecca Nazarene. Malone has won nine straight games overall, 18 consecutive games in G-MAC league play, and 19 in a row over Division II opponents.
 
GameDay
4/18 Malone at Ohio Valley (DH) – 11:00 am
4/19 Malone at Ohio Valley (DH) – 1:00 pm
Live stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
Twitter: @BaseballMaloneU
 
Series History
Malone is 7-5 all-time against Ohio Valley and 5-2 during the G-MAC era. Last season, the Pioneers posted a 3-0 record against the Fighting Scots, including a 10-8, walk-off-homerun victory in the opening round of the G-MAC Championship.

Team Comparison 

Malone	Category	OVU
29-11 (18-4)	W-L (G-MAC)	6-28 (6-14)
.282	Avg	.227
.381	OBP	.358
.388	Slugging	.304
6.0	Runs/GM	4.9
18	HR	10
57	SB	13
3.43	ERA	9.60
1.37	WHIP	2.19
7.9	K/9IP	7.4

Malone Notes

• The Pioneers, who are ranked fifth in the latest installment of the NCBWA Midwest Region Poll, are coming off of a four-game sweep of Alderson Broaddus last weekend.
• Rightfielder Turner Hill hit .643 (9-of-14) with eight RBI and five runs scored in the series. Hill is now batting a team-high .338 and is seventh in the G-MAC with 48 hits.
• Leftfielder Josh Haygood homered and tripled as part of 6-for-12 effort against AB. Haygood is batting .291 on the year with 27 RBI and a team-high 17 extra-base hits (eight doubles, four triples, five homeruns).
• Shortstop Tyson Gingerich (.276 avg, .385 OBP) scored eight runs in the four-game sweep and now has a team-high 37 runs on the season. The Pioneer leadoff man is fifth in the G-MAC in runs and stolen bases (14) and sixth in walks (26).
• Second baseman Zach Mottice (.427 OBP) leads the G-MAC with 30 walks. Since he took over the number-two spot in the order, Malone is 19-2.
• Centerfielder Jacob Mottice is tied for the team-lead with five homers and has scored 33 runs on the year. Over the last 20 games, he is hitting .313 – third best on the team.
• Over the last 20 games, Cade Mottice's .396 average trails only Turner Hill's .400 for the team's top mark. The Pioneers' number-nine hitter has been excellent in turning the lineup over, batting 19-for-48 with six multi-hit performances during the stretch.
• Senior first baseman Austin White is batting .303 during Malone's 19-1 run with 20 hits and 13 RBI. Nine of those RBI have come during the last seven games.
• Senior catcher Matt Noel leads Malone with nine doubles and is sixth in the G-MAC with 37 RBI. From his cleanup spot, Noel has now reached base in 12 straight games.
• Third baseman Clay Wisner has reached base in 12 of his last 14 games while batting .282 during that span. Wisner hit his first homerun of the season in last weekend's sweep.
• While the Malone lineup continues to get it done from top to bottom in the order, the Pioneer pitching staff continues to post impressive numbers, ranking 10th in Division II in team ERA.
• Three pitchers rank among the top-7 in the G-MAC in ERA. Tommy Walker (3-0, 2.03 ERA, 30 K, 44.1 IP) is first, Tyrus Jones (4-1, 2.68 ERA, 25 K, 43.2 IP) is third, and Christian Specht (4-1, 3.06 ERA, 45 K, 47 IP) is seventh. Jones also leads the G-MAC in batting average against (.168) and WHIP (0.96).
• Starters Clyde Yoder (6-1, 3.16 ERA, 45 K, 37 IP) and Eric Mullet (6-2, 3.71 ERA, 50 K, 60.2 IP) are tied for the league lead in wins while Mullet leads the G-MAC in innings.
• Sophomore Clay Cooper (3-1, 3.45 ERA, 34 K, 31.1 IP) leads the team in appearances (18), including eight in the last 10 games. The Pioneer closer leads the G-MAC and is sixth in the DII with eight saves.
• Over his last nine appearances spanning 12.2 innings, Cooper is 2-0 with five saves, a 0.71 ERA, 16 strikeouts, and a .114 batting average against.
• Malone is 22-1 when leading after six innings and 26-2 when holding opponents to five runs or fewer. The Pioneers are also 9-2 in one-run games, 20-2 when out-hitting the opponent, 17-3 when scoring first, and 7-2 in true road games.
   

Ohio Valley Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Fighting Scots enter the weekend having lost 14 of their last 16 games, including five straight. They gave up 67 runs in a four-game sweep by Hillsdale last weekend.
• Offensively, Ohio Valley is led by centerfielder Jack Skantze (.354 avg, 1 HR, 11 RBI), who has missed the last six games, and second baseman Daniel Quinn (.339, 10 XBH, 18 RBI, 26 R).
• Junior lefthander Ryan Valentine (1-5, 6.44 ERA) is tied for the G-MAC lead with 60 strikeouts in 50.1 innings pitched.