The Malone University baseball team opened up its four-game weekend series at the University of Findlay on Saturday by registering victories of 8-1 and 7-3.

The Pioneer pitching staff allowed just seven hits in the two wins, helping Malone improve to 19-13 overall and 10-6 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  The two squads will conclude the series on Sunday with another doubleheader, starting at 1:00 p.m.

Game One Recap
Malone tallied at least one run in each of the first four innings to build a commanding 7-0 lead.  This early offense proved to be more than enough for starting pitcher Joshua Hurford.  The redshirt freshman improved to 4-2 on the year after tossing all seven innings, yielding one run on five hits while striking out five.

The Pioneers piled up 12 hits in the contest.  Third baseman Jon Crank and catcher Matt Davis both went 3-for-4 while driving in three runs apiece.  Crank ripped a two-run single in the second before adding an RBI single in the sixth.  Davis, meanwhile, brought home Malone's first run with an RBI single in the bottom of the first and then added a two-run single in the fourth.

Centerfielder Brenden Wells posted an RBI single, a triple and scored three runs from the leadoff spot.  Leftfielder Ryan Froman also registered a pair of hits and scored a run.

Game Two Recap
After Davis got the Pioneers on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly in the top of the first, the Oilers fought back, plating two unearned runs in the second and another in fourth to grab a 3-1 advantage. 

Malone tied the game with two runs in the fifth and then took the lead with two more runs in the seventh.
    
Davis put the Pioneers in front with a two-out RBI double.  Rightfielder Matt Wheeler then stepped to the plate and lined a single to left to make the score 5-3. 

Malone would tack on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth with back-to-back sacrifice flies by Wells and shortstop Richie Mast.

Freshman lefty Cody Ballay started on the mound and earned his third win of the year (3-3) after tossing the first six innings, giving up three unearned runs on two hits.

Reliever Gary Lawrence then entered the game and held the Oilers without a hit over the final three innings to pick up his third save of the season.

Davis went 1-for-2 at the plate in the finale with three RBI's.  Wells posted two hits in three at-bats with a walk and three runs scored.