TIFFIN, Ohio -- On Friday the Malone University Pioneers hit the road to begin a four-game Great Midwest Athletic Conference series with the Tiffin University Dragons. 

The Pioneers (9-12, 4-10 G-MAC) got a strong pitching performance from Clay Cooper in the first game to pick up a 3-0 win. The Dragons (11-6, 6-4 G-MAC) responded with a 14-4 win in the second game to split the doubleheader.

Game 1 Highlights
Clay Cooper made his fifth start of the season, and turned in yet another outstanding performance. The southpaw pitched seven innings, struck out seven, and allowed just three hits. 

The offense got him some run support in the top of the 3rd inning. Evan Balzano led off with a single through the right side. He later scored on a RBI double by Joe Crank to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. 

Cooper continued to keep Tiffin off the board, and Malone struck again in the 5th. This time it was Tyson Gingerich who scored for the 21st time this season to put the Pioneers on top 2-0. 

After two more zeros from Cooper, Malone got another insurance run in the top of the 7th. Crank beat out a ball for a fielder's choice. Balzano scored on the play to make it a 3-0 game. 

Danny Miller entered from the bullpen to start the 8th inning. He worked around two Tiffin hits to close out the game, and preserve the shutout for his second save of the season.


Game 2 Highlights
Despite being held to just five hits and no runs in the first game, the Tiffin bats came alive in the nightcap. 

The Dragons scored at least one run in each of the first five innings. 

Down 12-0 heading into the top of the 5th inning the Pioneers' offense found a spark. 

Malone loaded the bases on consecutive singles by Weston Garman, Stone King and JC Philippi. Balzano doubled into left center to score both Garman and King. 

Later in the inning Philippi scored on a Dragon error, and Balzano came home on a sacrifice fly by Gingerich. All told the Pioneers used four hits and one Tiffin error to put up four runs, and make it 12-4 game. 

Unfortunately the Dragons got two of the runs back on a homerun in the bottom half of the inning. 

Tiffin held Malone in check the rest of the way to take game two 14-4. 


PIONEER POINTS

• Clay Cooper's game-one outing was his longest of the season. His final line was 7.0 inning pitched, three hits allowed, seven strikeouts and no runs. His ERA now stands at a team-best 2.83 on the season. He leads Malone, and is second in the G-MAC, with 44 total strikeouts.

• At the plate Evan Balzano was 4-6 on the doubleheader. He had two hits in each game. He also had a pair of RBIs on the afternoon, and now is one of four Malone players who have double-digit RBI totals on the season.

• The Pioneers were flawless defensively in game one. It was the second-game in a row that Malone did not make an error.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The two teams return to Herminger Field on the campus of Tiffin University to wrap up the series with a doubleheader tomorrow. First pitch in game one is set for 1:00 p.m.