Crusaders
Down Tech To Stay Alive In Post Season
May 9, 2008
BOX SCORE
NAIA
REGION VIII SECOND ROUND
#16
MADONNA vs. INDIANA TECH
at Forest Glen Park (Huntington, Indiana)
HUNTINGTON, Ind.
– The MU baseball team staved off elimination at the 2008 NAIA
Region VIII tournament on Friday by downing WHAC rival Indiana Tech 9-3. This
was the ninth meeting of the season between MU and Tech and the Crusaders took
eight of the nine meetings, including the last seven.
Tech
plated two runs in the top of the first inning off of Crusader starter Eric
Wendling, taking advantage of a pair of MU miscues to stake themselves to the
early 2-0 cushion.
That lead
lasted until the second inning as the Crusaders came back to score three runs of
their own and take a 3-2 lead. Scott Boyer reached on a one-out single and moved
to second on a Rikco Rhoades single to the hole at short. Boyer came home on a
Mike Gansser single up the middle to make it 2-1. Drew Adamiec's bunt single
loaded the bases after Tech's Eric Sherrill slipped trying to field the ball.
Ryan Morrow then delivered the tying run with a sac fly to right that scored
Rhoades and made it 2-2.
It became
a 3-2 MU lead when Sherrill was called for a balk, allowing Gansser to score
from third and give the Crusaders a lead.
The
Warriors got two runners on in the fifth, but Wendling worked out of the jam and
recorded the final two outs to keep his team in the lead. MU broke the game open
in the sixth, using back-to-back homers by Pat Kenny and Boyer to open the
inning and push the lead to 5-2. Adamiec then reached on a two-out double and
was run for by Levi Cheshire. Cheshire then came home on a Ryan Morrow single to
right center and make it a 6-2 lead.
Rhoades
made it 9-2 game in the seventh, hitting his first homer of the season, driving
in Cheshire and Kenny. Tech got one run in the top of the ninth, cutting the
lead to 9-3, but it was not enough as reliever Ryan Bardoni got Shawn Placie to
ground out to end the game.
Wendling
got the win, his sixth of the season. Boyer went 3-for-4 while Morrow, Kenny,
Rhoades and Adamiec each had two hits.
MU will
take on the loser Spring Arbor vs. Huntington at 7pm tonight in another win or
go home game.
Contact:
Patrick Moore - Director of Media Relations
(734) 432-5834
