The Malone University baseball team kept rolling in Arizona on Friday, extending its winning streak to seven in a row with a doubleheader sweep of Southwest Minnesota State University.

The Pioneers piled up 17 hits, including four home runs and four doubles, in a convincing 13-3 triumph in game one.  Three Malone pitchers then combined to limit the Mustangs to three singles in a 5-1 triumph in the finale.

The Pioneers, now 8-3 overall, will wrap up their trip to the Tucson Invitational on Saturday with a pair of nine-inning games.  Malone will face St. Cloud State (MN) University at 3:30 p.m. MST (5:30 p.m. EST) before taking part in a re-match with Southwest Minnesota State at 7:00 p.m. MST (9:00 p.m. EST).  Live stats will be available for the contest against SMSU at http://livestats.smsu.edu/baseball/

Game One Recap
Nine different Pioneers registered at least one hit in the opener.  Leftfielder Keanan Locke got the Pioneers on the scoreboard with a solo homer to leftcenter in the top of the first inning.  Malone then added four runs in the third, four runs in the fourth and three more runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach.

Catcher Hayden Mobley delivered the big blow in the third, crushing a three-run home run over the fence in left.  Locke came through with his second homer of the contest in the fourth – a two-run shot to left-center that increased the lead to 7-0. 

Third baseman Jon Crank then ripped his second long ball of the season with one runner on base in the fifth. 

Joshua Hurford started on the mound and picked up the win (1-1) after tossing the first five innings, yielding three runs on four hits while striking out 11.  Reliever Gunnar Smeyres then struck out four more batters over two scoreless frames.

In addition to his two homers, Locke added a bunt single and a walk, ending the contest 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBI's.  Mobley was also 3-for-4 at the dish with three runs scored and three runs batted in. 

Crank, designated hitter Matt Davis, rightfielder Matt Wheeler and second baseman Richie Mast all added two hits apiece.

Game Two Recap
An RBI single by Locke broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning of game two.  SMSU strung together three straight singles to knot things up in the top of the fourth.

The score then remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth.  Mobley brought in the go-ahead run after drawing a bases-loaded walk. 

Davis then stepped to the plate and lined a single to center, plating two more runs.  Wells wrapped up the scoring in the sixth, driving in first baseman Chad Neff with a single to right.   Wells finished the game with two singles and a stolen base, stretching his season-opening hitting streak to 11 games.

Right-hander Matt Litty tossed the first five innings and picked up the win (1-0).  Litty limited the Mustangs to one run on three hits while striking out eight.

Smeyres and right-hander Jordan Knight each followed with a scoreless inning of relief. 

In all, the Pioneer pitching staff racked up a combined total of 26 strikeouts during their 14 innings of work on Friday.