ANN ARBOR,
Mich. - - The Madonna baseball team split its mid-week WHAC
double header at Concordia on Wednesday, falling 4-3 in eight
innings in the opener before rebounding for an 8-6 win in the night
cap. With the split today, the Crusaders move to 20-10 overall and
7-3 in loop action.
GAME
ONE
MU loaded the bases in the top of the first, but could not push a run across
until the top of the second. Zack McMillin (Grand Ledge, Mich.)
hit a one out single down the right field line and then proceeded to steal
second. Ryan Morrow (Taylor, Mich.) brought McMillin home on a
triple to left center to make it 1-0 MU.
The
Crusaders added another run in the third as Patrick Kenny (Roseville,
Mich.) single and then stole second and third before coming home on a
Dave Herrick (Westland, Mich.) single for a 2-0 Madonna lead.
It was
3-0 after the MU half of the fourth as McMillin reached on a lead off single and
after advancing to second via a passed ball, came home on a sac fly off the bat
of Morrow to give the visiting side a 3-0 edge.
Concordia tied the game at 3-3 in its half of the fourth, roughing up MU starter
Ryan Bardoni (Warren, Mich.) for all three scores and made it a
brand new ball game before head coach Greg Haeger went to his bull pen
and summoned former Cardinal Carl McDevitt (Canton, Mich.) to get
the Crusaders back into the dugout.
MU had a
change to retake the lead in the fifth when Scott Boyer (Flat Rock,
Mich.) hit a one-out single and he was followed by a single from McMillin
but the rally was dashed when Concordia hurler Drew Linder got the MU bats to
ground into a double play to end the threat.
Neither
side could push a run across through seven complete and the game then went to
extra innings. In the Madonna half of the eighth, Levi Cheshire (Troy,
Mich.) hit a one-out double and advanced to third during a walk that was
drawn by Kevin Zerbo (Farmington, Mich.). Both runners were
stranded as Ben Sprague got Kenny to fly out to right to end the inning.
The
Cards got the game winning run in their half of the eighth as Sprague singled to
lead off the inning before McDevitt got the next to CUAA hitters to strike out.
Sprague stole second and pinch runner Jose Paez was doubled home on a Blake
Edwards base hit to give the win, 4-3 to Concordia.
McMillin
led the MU attack with three hits, while Cheshire and Morrow added two each and
Morrow drove in two runs. McDevitt took the loss, falling to 5-2 on the season,
snapping a two-game winning streak for the senior righty.
GAME
TWO
Madonna took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second as Shawn Little
(Canton, Mich.) and Boyer hit back-to-back singles and McMillin was hit by a
pitch to load the bases. Tarik Khasawneh (Canton, Mich.) then
singled in Little and Boyer to make it 2-0 MU.
CUAA
tied the score with single runs in the third and fourth to make it 2-2 after
four complete. MU took the lead back in the fifth as Zerbo singled in Morrow who
had singled earlier in the inning to make it 3-2.
The
Cards plated four runs in the sixth to take the lead at 6-3 and look to complete
the sweep of Madonna for the first time since 2003, but the Crusader bats woke
up in the top of the seventh to score five times and put the game away.
MU got
started when Khasawneh singled and moved to second on a Morrow single to put
runners at first and second with no one out. Cheshire then doubled home both
runners to make it 6-4 Concordia with a runner at second and still no outs.
Zerbo, who drew a walk, was pinch ran for by Drew Fry (Madison
Heights, Mich.). Both runners moved up on a sac bunt by Herrick to put
runners at second and third. The Cards walked Kenny to load the bases and set up
a force play anywhere but the gamble did not pay off as Little cleared the bases
with a triple to make it 8-6 Madonna heading into the bottom of the seventh.
John
McCracken
(Pinckney, Mich.), who got the final out of the sixth, threw a perfect 1-2-3
seventh to earn his first win of the season to go along with his team high five
saves.
Cheshire, Little and Morrow each had two hits in the night cap with Little
driving in three.
The
Crusaders look to continue their winning ways this Saturday and Sunday when they
host Indiana Tech in a four-game series at Ilitch Ballpark. First pitch both
days is slated for 1pm.
