Championship Bracket | Championship Webpage

The Malone University baseball team will make its fifth consecutive postseason appearance this week when it travels to Mason, Ohio to compete in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship. The four-day, eight-team, double-elimination tournament will take place at Prasco Park beginning this Wednesday, May 8th and running through Saturday, May 11th.
 
The Pioneers finished 21-9 in G-MAC play (32-16 overall) on their way to winning the Regular Season Championship and will carry the #1 overall seed into this week's tournament. Malone squares off against #8 Alderson Broaddus University (21-27-1, 17-15 G-MAC), which won its last six conference games to secure a spot in the bracket. The Pioneers and Battlers are scheduled to meet on Wednesday at 2:00 pm. In an effort to avoid inclement weather on Thursday, a total of eight games will be played on Wednesday, pushing up the original start time four hours.
 
**Updated**
The winner of Wednesday's first game faces the winner of #4 Lake Erie, the hottest team in the conference with wins in 12 straight, and #5 Kentucky Wesleyan, which forced an if-necessary Championship game in 2018 after winning it all in 2017, on Wednesday at 8:00 pm. The losers will play each other at 5:00 pm. Regardless of the outcome of the first game, Malone will play a second game on Wednesday.
 
On the other side of the bracket, #2 Ohio Dominican meets #7 Tiffin and #3 Trevecca Nazarene takes on #6 Walsh. Hillsdale, the 2018 G-MAC Champions, are a surprising omission from this year's field after suffering a four-game sweep in the final weekend of the season.
 
What's at Stake?
The winner of the G-MAC Championship receives one of three automatic bids, along with the GLVC and GLIAC Champions, into the NCAA Tournament as one of eight teams from the Midwest Region. The remaining five selections are chosen at-large based on their body of work from the entirety of the season. Malone, the only G-MAC team in the top-10, was slotted eighth in the most recent Midwest Region Rankings. The Pioneers have never qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
 
G-MAC Postseason History
Malone finished in ninth place in the 2018 Midwest Region Rankings last season after being eliminated on day three of the G-MAC Tournament. Following a pair of dramatic wins over Ohio Valley and Kentucky Wesleyan on days one and two, Malone bowed out of the tournament with Friday losses to Hillsdale and Kentucky Wesleyan.
 
In 2017, Malone lost its opening-round matchup to Ohio Valley only to bounce back and win three straight to advance to the Championship via the loser's bracket. The momentum ran out for the Pioneers, however, as Kentucky Wesleyan eliminated Malone on a 10th-inning walk-off wild pitch.
 
Wednesday Matchups
5/8 Malone vs. Alderson Broaddus – 2:00 pm (Prasco Park)
5/8 Malone vs. TBD - 5:00 pm OR 8:00 pm
Live video: portal.stretchinternet.com/greatmidwest*
Twitter: @BaseballMaloneU
 
*Every game of the G-MAC Championship will be streamed lived via the Great Midwest Digital Network. Live stats links will be generated on a game-by-game basis.

Team Comparison 

Malone	Category	ABU
32-16 (21-9)	W-L (G-MAC)	21-27-1 (17-15)
.275	Avg	.296
.371	OBP	.399
.383	Slugging	.436
5.6	Runs/GM	6.9
23	HR	40
63	SB	38
3.64	ERA	6.91
1.41	WHIP	1.77
7.7	K/9IP	7.2

Series History
In 10 games against Alderson Broaddus since joining the G-MAC in the 2017 season, Malone is 9-1, including a four game sweep earlier this season. Malone hit .333 with 30 runs in the series, which featured a pair of one-run victories.

Malone Offensive Notes

• Sophomore rightfielder Turner Hill batted .643 (9-for-14) with eight RBI and five runs scored in the four games against AB as he upped his season batting average from .305 to .338. Hill finished the regular season hitting a team-high .337 with 34 runs scored and 28 RBI.
• Leftfielder Josh Haygood went 6-for-12 (.500) with a homerun and a triple against AB. On the season, Haygood is hitting .276 with 30 RBI and team-highs in homers (6), triples (4), and slugging percentage (.500).
• Senior catcher Matt Noel, a .290 hitter, leads the team in doubles (11) and RBI (40). As clutch as they come, Noel is a career .514 hitter in postseason play. Over the last two seasons, he has batted 18-for-35 with five doubles and eight RBI across nine G-MAC Tournament games.
• Noel has cleaned up in the order this season in front of corner infielders Austin White (.283, 12 XBH, 26 RBI) and Clay Wisner (.285, 7 XBH, 12 RBI). White, a senior first baseman, has come on strong as of late with two homeruns, a double, and five RBI in his last three games.
• At the top of the order, shortstop Tyson Gingerich has reached base in 16 of 17 games and has doubled in five of his last seven. Gingerich is batting .275 and leads the team in stolen bases (14) and runs scored (41), including 18 tallies during the 17-game stretch.
• Second baseman Zach Mottice, an effective number two hitter, is second on the team with a .410 on-base percentage. His 37 walks this regular season are the most by a Pioneer in at least the last 16 seasons and third in the G-MAC this spring.
• Centerfielder Jacob Mottice is second on the team in runs (37), homers (5), and stolen bases (12) while twin brother and designated hitter Cade Mottice has been outstanding in the number nine spot in the order, ranking second on the team in batting average (.302) and fourth in OBP (.383).
• The Pioneers are third in the nation in sacrifice bunts (54) this season and second in the G-MAC with 63 stolen bases.
• Malone is 21-2 when out-hitting its opponent, 18-4 when scoring at least six runs, and 20-6 when scoring first.

Pioneer Pitching Notes

• Malone, which leads the G-MAC and the Midwest Region in team ERA, is 29-4 when holding opponents to five runs or fewer and 24-1 when leading after six innings.
• Staff aces Eric Mullet (7-3, 4.09 ERA, 64 K, 77 IP) and Clyde Yoder (7-3, 3.67 ERA, 60 K, 56.1 IP) are tied for second in the G-MAC in wins and are each top-10 in strikeouts. Mullet is coming off of an eight-strikeout complete game victory at Kentucky Wesleyan in the Pioneers' most recent contest.
• Junior righthanders Christian Specht (4-2, 3.35 ERA, 48 K, 51 IP) and Tommy Walker (4-0, 2.06 ERA, 34 K, 52.1 IP) give Malone arguably the deepest starting staff in the Midwest Region. Amidst a breakout season, Walker is second in the G-MAC in ERA while Specht, who led Malone in saves last year, ranks sixth.
• Closer Clay Cooper (3-2, 3.72 ERA, 38 K, 36.1 IP) and super reliever Tyrus Jones (4-1, 3.23 ERA, 26 K, 47.1 IP) solidify the Pioneer bullpen. Cooper is second in the G-MAC in appearances (20) and leads the Midwest Region in saves. Jones, meanwhile, is holding opponents to a .204 batting average, second-best rate in the G-MAC.
   

Alderson Broaddus Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Battlers, who were off last weekend, ended the season with seven straight wins, including a four-game sweep of Ohio Valley to end the conference schedule.
• While Malone has relied on its pitching, Alderson Broaddus has been a force offensively, scoring 98 runs (14 per game) over its seven-game win streak. The Battlers have scored in double digits 13 times this season and six or more runs 23 times. Those numbers could be beneficial against a Malone team that is just 3-12 when allowing more than five runs.
• The AB lineup is led catcher Vincenzo Rauso (.387, 16 2B, 4 HR, 33 RBI, .503 OBP), shortstop Tyler Amedure (.362, 13 HR, 38 RBI, .704 slug), and centerfielder Todd Sekowski (.355, 9 HR, 40 RBI, 15 SB). All three rank among the top-15 hitters in the league while Amedure is third in homeruns and Rauso is fourth in OBP.
• The pitching staff is led by Zach Salmon (4-4, 4.40 ERA, 57 K, 57.1 IP) and Ryan Varley (4-4, 4.98 ERA, 54 K, 56 IP). Salmon pitched AB to its only-ever win over win over Malone in 2017.