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.
