The Malone University baseball team pocketed a 4-3 victory on Tuesday during its nine-inning contest against Northern State (SD) University at the Tucson Invitational.

Third baseman Jon Crank put the Pioneers on top 1-0 in the bottom of the third by lifting a sacrifice fly to left, chasing home shortstop Daulton Ritter, who had led off the frame with a single.

Malone increased its advantage to 3-0 in the fourth.  Rightfielder Matt Wheeler opened the inning with a single and then moved to third on a double by first baseman Chad Neff.  The Wolves managed to retire the next two batters before centerfielder Brenden Wells came through with his fifth double of the young season, scoring both base runners.

A pair of two-out, run-scoring base hits allowed Northern State to knot things up at 3-3 in the top of the fifth, but Malone would answer right back in the bottom of the inning.

Designated hitter Matt Davis got things started with a two-out single and then came all the way around to score the go-ahead run on a double by Wheeler.

This would be all the offense the Pioneer pitching staff would need the rest of the way as starter Cody Ballay and relievers Gunnar Smeyres and Jordan Knight shut down the Wolves over the final four innings.
Ballay, a freshman southpaw, picked up his first collegiate victory (1-0) after tossing the first six frames, yielding the three runs on six hits while striking out four.  Smeyres blanked NSU in the seventh and eighth innings before Knight entered the game in the ninth and worked around a hit by pitch to earn his first career save.

The Pioneers tallied a total of 13 hits, led by leftfielder Keanan Locke who went 3-for-5.  Wells, Wheeler, Neff and second baseman Richie Mast all added two hits apiece.

Malone, now 4-3 overall, will have an off day in Arizona on Wednesday.  The squad will be back in action on Thursday afternoon with two more games against Northern State starting at 12:00 p.m. MST (2:00 p.m. EST).