CANTON, Ohio -- The Malone University baseball program played the home opener of their 2021 season on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers welcomed the Trevecca Nazarene University Trojans to town for a doubleheader that was played at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.

The Trojans (6-2, 2-0 G-MAC) broke a tie late in game one to pick up a 6-4 win. In game two a late Pioneer (7-6, 2-4 G-MAC) comeback was not enough to overcome a 5-1 deficit as TNU completed the doubleheader sweep. 

Game 1 Highlights
Clay Cooper started the game on the mound for Malone, and he worked out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the 1st inning. He struck out a pair of Trojan batters to keep TNU off of the scoreboard. 

The starting pitcher for Trevecca, Drew Pierce entered play sporting the lowest ERA among qualified G-MAC pitchers. Malone's offense was able to get to him early however.  

Tyson Gingerich led off the bottom of the 1st inning with a double into left center. Great situational hitting by Joe Crank moved him to third base, and JC Philippi came through with a RBI groundout to give Malone a 1-0 lead.

Cooper put two more zeros up on the board in the 2nd and 3rd innings, but TNU got to him in the top of the 4th. 

The Trojans plated three runs on three hits and one Malone error to take a 3-1 lead. 

The Pioneers threatened to answer in their half of the inning, but two base runners were left stranded.

Trevecca tacked on another run in the 5th inning with a RBI double to push their advantage out to 4-1.

Malone's offense responded with some life in the bottom half of the 5th. With two outs in the inning Philippi was hit by a pitch. Joe Watts followed that up with a double into left to score Philippi and make it a 4-2 game. 

James Kontur entered from the bullpen to start the 6th inning. He worked around walk to keep things at 4-2.

Stone King got things going for the Pioneers in their half of the inning with a one-out double. In the very next at bat Evan Balzano doubled to bring home King and make it 4-3. Bryan Yoder followed that with a single that brought home Balzano, and tied the game at 4-4.

Unfortunately for Malone Trevecca answered right back in the top of the 7th with a triple and a two-run homerun to retake the lead at 6-4. 

The Pioneers were unable to get much going offensively the rest of the way, and the Trojans held on to win game one 6-4.

Game 2 Highlights
The second game of the doubleheader was a pitcher's duel early on. Cooper Davies was on the mound for Malone, and he retired the first six batters that he faced in order. Unfortunately the Trevecca starter had the same answer. 

The Trojans got on the scoreboard first with a solo homerun in the top of the 3rd inning. In the top of the 5th Trevecca added three more runs on three hits and two Malone errors to stretch their lead out to 4-0.

TNU got one more insurance run in the 5th to make it 5-0. 

In the bottom of the 6th the Pioneers got that run back. Tyson Gingerich reached on a bunt single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then stole his 12th base of the season to reach third. Joe Crank notched his eighth RBI of the season on a groundout to make it a 5-1 game. 

Davies worked out of trouble in the top of the 7th to keep it at 5-1, but the Trojans shut the door in the bottom half to earn the victory. 

PIONEER POINTS

• In game one Clay Cooper struck out a season-high 11 batters in just five innings of work. That pushes his season strikeout total out to 30, that number is currently tops in the entire G-MAC. 

• Freshman Jake Aleman was 3-7 at the plate in the doubleheader. He had a double in game one. He currently leads the team with a .350 batting average on the year. 

• Tyson Gingerich was also 3-7 at the dish. His .341 average trails only Aleman in the Pioneer lineup.

• As a team Malone had five doubles in game one, a season-high. Aleman, Gingerich, Joe Watts, Stone King, and Evan Balzano all had two-baggers for the Pioneers.

WHAT'S NEXT?
These two teams will wrap up the series with another doubleheader tomorrow afternoon. First pitch from Minerva High School's Carl Michael Field is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.