BOX SCORE  | TOURNAMENT STATS

SIOUX CITY, Iowa. - - The No. 16 ranked Madonna University baseball team fell to No. 11 ranked Bellevue in the winners' bracket Wednesday at the NAIA World Series. Madonna will return to action Thursday at 1 p.m., eastern daylight time, and face the winner of Jamestown and Fresno Pacific who face off Wednesday in an elimination game.

Zach Flavin (Novi, Mich.) and Ted Toune (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) each went 2-4 with an RBI on the day to lead the Crusader offense.

Bellevue jumped out to the early lead by scoring a pair of runs in each of the first two innings to take a 4-0 advantage into the bottom of the second frame. In the bottom of the inning designated hitter Flavin put Madonna on the board by hitting a double to right center on a 1-2 pitch scoring the right fielder Matt Kay(Canton, Mich.) from first who had picked up a one out walk. Flavin advanced to third on a wild pitch before short stop Mike Gannser (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) singled to the short stop scoring Flavin and cutting the lead to 4-2 after two innings.

The Bruins picked up another run in the third inning to push their lead to 5-2.

Madonna's defense held Bellevue scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings but the Crusaders were unable to cut into the lead in either inning.

Bellevue added three runs in the sixth inning and six in the seventh to extend the lead to 14-2. Madonna got one back in the bottom of the seventh inning when Kay hit a 1-1 pitch to center field for a double. Two batters later left fielder Toune hit a single to right field scoring Kay from second base.

MU scored another in the eighth inning when second baseman Ryan Morrow (Taylor, Mich.) and pinch hitter Scott Boyer (Flat Rock, Mich.) hit back to back singles to start the inning. With Morrow on second and Boyer on first and one out, first baseman Kevin Zerbo (Farmington, Mich.) hit a single to left field scoring Morrow.

Madonna managed four runs on 10 hits, but the Bellevue offense proved to be too much as the Bruins scored 18 runs on 23 hits.

The Crusaders will return to action Thursday to face the winner of fourth seeded Jamestown vs. second seeded Fresno Pacific.