Site: Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Theunissen Stadium)
Score: No. 23 Madonna 6, Central Michigan 3
Records: MU (15-9), CMU (6-10)
Next MU event: Saturday March 17 – vs. Aquinas (Ilitch Ballpark), 1 p.m.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - - After giving up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, the No. 23-ranked Madonna University baseball team used clutch two-out hitting to rally for six unanswered runs in a 6-3 come-from-behind victory over NCAA Division I member Central Michigan University on Tuesday afternoon (March 13) at Theunissen Stadium.

"I'm very proud of our team today," commented head coach Greg Haeger. "We played hard and were short-handed, missing a few key starters. Our pitchers did a good job of keeping us in the game and we got some key two-out hits at the plate."

Seniors Drew Adamiec (Walled Lake, Mich. / Central) and Billy Hardin III (Livonia, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central) each drove in two runs while fellow senior Dan Harder (Brighton, Mich. / Brighton) went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead Madonna (15-9).

Junior Matthew Cook (Dresden, Ontario / Lambton Kent Secondary) reached base five ties, posting a pair of hits while drawing two walks and being hit by a pitch. Cook (4-0) earned his fourth win of the season on the mound, throwing the final five innings of the game in relief of junior starter Jeremy Gooding (Livonia, Mich. / Divine Child Catholic). Cook and Gooding both scattered three hits while Cook struck out three to Gooding's two. Gooding was charged with one earned run in his four innings of work. Cook did not allow a run in his work on the hill.

CMU (6-10) got on the board in the bottom of the first when Jordan Dean hit a solo home run to left center to put the Chippewas in front 1-0. Three batters later Jordan Adams reached with two outs when his fly ball was misplayed in the outfield, allowing a pair of unearned runs to score and give CMU a 3-0 lead.

MU cracked the run column in the top of the third pulling within two, 3-1, when Harder delivered a two-out double to score junior Josh Deeg (Lake Orion, Mich. / Lake Orion) with the first Crusader run.

After Gooding worked out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth to keep the game 3-1, the Crusaders pushed two runs across in the top of the fifth as Deeg reached on a two-out single and after Harder drew a walk, both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Hardin III hit a double to right that plated both runners to square the game at three-all.

The Crusaders scored three times in the top of the seventh as Cook worked a two-out walk and Hardin III followed with another walk to bring junior Spencer Sarel(Brighton, Mich. / Brighton) to the plate. Sarel stroked a single through the right side to score Cook and put MU on top 4-3. After a pitching change, Adamiec singled to left and scored Hardin III and Sarel to give MU a 6-3 lead.

Cook came out for the ninth and after allowing the first two batters to reach, got the next two batters to line out to Deeg in right before striking out William Arnold to end the game.

Dean led CMU with two hits while reliever Sean Renzi took the loss, giving up three runs on two hits in his two-thirds of an inning.

After 24 games on the road, the Crusaders open the 2012 home season at Ilitch Ballpark on Saturday (March 17) with a double header against Aquinas College. The conference opener for both team is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch.