LIVONIA, MICH. - - The No. 1-seeded Madonna University baseball team saw its run at the 2009 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament come to an end on Sunday (May 2) after falling to No. 2-seeded Indiana Tech 11-7. MU had defeated Concordia 13-4 earlier on Sunday.
 
The loss means that the Crusaders must now wait until Thursday to see if their 38-10 record and WHAC regular season championship will earn them a selection into the 45-team NAIA Baseball National Tournament that is slated to start on May 12 at campus sites.
 
Against Concordia, MU opened the scoring with a run in the second on a Matt Kay (Canton, Mich.) home run to right field for a 1-0 lead.
 
CUAA's Tony Pounders answered Kay with a homer of his own to tie the game at 1-1 after two innings.
 
The Crusader bats exploded in the third, plating five runs with Kay providing the big blow with a three-run homer to right center to make it 6-1 in favor of MU.
 
Both teams put up a pair of runs in the seventh to make it a 8-3 before Madonna tacked on five more scores in the ninth as MU took advantage of a Concordia error, a wild pitch and two walks before Tarik Khasawneh (Canton, Mich.) doubled in a pair for an 13-3 lead.
 
Concordia got a run back in the ninth but it was too little, too late as Andy Omilian (Farmington, Mich.) struck out the final batter of the game to earn his first career save in relief of winner Tom Hansen (Rochester Hills, Mich.).
 
Hansen threw six innings, striking out a pair while scattering nine hits for his eighth win of the season.
 
The win then moved Madonna into the tournament finals against Indiana Tech, with MU having to win two games to claim the league title.
 
MU put up four runs in the top of the first as Aaron Hacias (Sterling Heights, Mich.) hit an opposite field home run just in front of the Ilitch Ballpark scoreboard to stake the Crusaders to a 2-0 lead. Kay followed two batters later with a double and came home on a Zach Flavin (Novi, Mich.) triple for a 3-0 lead. Flavin scored on a Ted Toune (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) single to make it 4-0 Madonna after just half an inning.
 
Indiana Tech answered back in the bottom of the frame, getting to MU starter Keegan Beaton (Wales, Mich.) for four runs, taking advantage of four walks to tie the game at 4-4 after one inning.
 
The Warriors then added five runs in the second and a single run in the third for a 10-4 lead after three innings.
 
The Crusaders got a run back in the fifth, sixth and seventh but could not close the deficit to any smaller than three before Tech added a single run in the eighth for the 11-7 final.
 
Reliever Jeff Mann (Waterford, Mich.) was saddled with the loss, falling to 3-1 on the year.
 
For the tournament, the Crusaders hit .391 as a team with Flavin leading the way, posting a .619 average. Shawn Little (Canton, Mich.) hit .455 while Hacias and Khasawneh hit .450 and .400 respectively. Kay hit five home runs and drove in 12 to lead the way for MU.
 
The Crusaders will learn if their season continues on Thursday as the NAIA announces the 45 team field for the national summit.