LIVONIA, Mich. - - Extra inning heroics and an offensive explosion gave the Madonna baseball team a sweep of visiting Indiana Tech for he second straight day on Tuesday at Ilitch Ballpark. MU took agme one 6-4 in nine innings and then completed the sweep with a 10-3 win in the night cap. The wins move Madonna to 24-10 overall and 11-3 in the WHAC with a three-game lead over Tech in the standings. Tech is now 20-13, 9-7 in the WHAC.
GAME ONE
After getting out of a first and third jam in the top of the first, the Madonna bats plated the game's first run as Levi Cheshire (Troy, Mich.) hit a one-out single to center and was followed by a single from Shawn Little (Canton, Mich.) and another single off the bat of Kevin Zerbo (Farmington Hills, Mich.) that scored Cheshire and gave MU a 1-0 lead after one.
The Crusaders tacked on two more runs in the third as Zerbo hit his team leading seventh homer of the season with Little aboard to make it 3-0 after three complete.
MU added another run in the fourth when Dave Herrick (Westland, Mich.) led off with a single to left center. Zack McMillin's (Grand Ledge, Mich.) sac bunt moved pinch runner Mike Gansser (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) to second and a Jeff Sonnenberg (Lansing, Mich.) single down the left field line scored Gansser to make it 4-0.
Tech got two runs back in the top of the fifth as Jeremy Parker hit a two-run shot to right cutting the MU lead in half at 4-2. Tech added single runs in the sixth and seventh to send the game into extra innings.
MU threatened in the eighth, putting runners at first and second but could get nothing across. After reliever John McCracken (Pickney, Mich.) retired Tech in order in the top of the ninth, Gansser led off the home half of the inning with a single and two batters later freshman catcher Matt Kondziolka (Warren, Mich.) hit his first career home run giving MU a 6-4 win.
McCracken picked up the win, his second of the season, going three innings in relief of starter Eric Wendling (New Lothrop, Mich.) and Carl McDevitt (Canton, Mich.), giving up just two hits while striking out seven. Zerbo led the hit parade with a trio while Cheshire had a pair of base knocks for MU. Derek Hefty took the loss for IIT, falling to 1-1.
GAME TWO
Madonna struck first in game two of the day as McMillin was hit by a pitch with one down in the second and then stole second. Ryan Morrow (Taylor, Mich.) brought McMillin home on a single to center to make it 1-0.
Tech rebounded to score two runs in the to pof the third as Parker led off with his second homer of the day to make it 1-1. The Warriors added another as Steve Weigle singled to center and then came around on a sac bunt and a Crusader miscue to make it 2-1 Tech heading into the bottom of the third.
MU tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth as Cheshire singled with two outs and then came home on a Little single down the right field line that the Tech right fielder threw into left field allowing Cheshire to scamper home with the tying run.
The Warriors had a runner at second with one out in the top of the fifth, but a line drive off the bat of Shane Tirey was snagged by Cheshire at short and a shot to the gap in right center off the bat of Will Richards was snared by McMillin on an amazing leaping catch against the wall the brought a potential home run ball back to keep it 2-2.
The McMillin catch seemed to fire up the Crusaders as Sonnenberg singled to left to open the inning. After pinch runner Drew Fry (Madison Heights, Mich.) moved to second on a wild pitch, Boyer drove Fry home on a single to center to give MU the lead back at 3-2 after five complete.
Madonna's offense broke out in a big way in the sixth as the Crusaders plated seven runs to open up a 10-2 lead. Derrick started the inning by reaching on an error. Morrow, Cheshire and Little then drew back-to-back-to-back walks to force in a run and make it 4-2. Zerbo then singled to right, scoring Cheshire and Morrow and making it 6-2. A fielder's choice off the bat of Pat Kenny (Utica, Mich.) cut Little down at the plate, but kept the bases loaded for Scott Boyer. The MU left fielder then delivered a bases clearing triple to the right center making it 9-2 and after an error by the Tech infield allowed Boyer to score from third, the dust settled and MU had a 10-2 lead heading into the top of the seventh.
MU starter Richard Lindquist (Tecumseh, Ont.) allowed a run in the top of the seventh but got Richards to pop out to Cheshire to end the game and pick up his third win of the season against one defeat. Lindquist allowed six hits over his complete game effort, striking out three while only walking one.
Boyer had the hot bat for MU, going 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Little added a 3-for-3 performance in the win.
The Crusaders win the season series from the Warriors 5-1 and now move on to face Siena Heights in a 1:30 pm double header in Adrian on Wednesday.
