Box Scores – Game One | Game Two

Site: Livonia, Mich. (Ilitch Ballpark)
Score: Madonna 11, Lourdes 1 (8 innings)
Score: Madonna 16, Lourdes 0
Records: MU (23-12, 7-3 WHAC), LU (6-23, 1-7 WHAC)
Next MU event: Sunday, April 1 – vs. Lourdes (Ilitch Ballpark) – 12 p.m.

LIVONIA, Mich. - - Behind a near no hitter by sophomore Aaron Saarela (Commerce, Mich. / Lakeland) and a combined 27 runs on the day, the Madonna University baseball team swept visiting Lourdes University in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference double header on Saturday (March 31) at Ilitch Ballpark. MU won game one 11-1 in eight innings before completing the sweep with a 16-0 win in the nightcap.

Saarela carried his no hitter through the first 6.2 innings of the game before surrendering an opposite field, two-strike single to LU's Jake Conklin to break the hitless streak that had reached 29 batters. The lefty walked three and hit three batters in throwing his first complete game of the season.

Game One
The Crusaders took advantage of a Gray Wolf error to score an unearned run in the first when junior left fielder Steve Pelletier (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Harrison) drove in classmate and center fielder Alex Charles (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Brother Rice Catholic) with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.

MU tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third starting with another Pelletier sacrifice fly that made it 2-0. The lead grew to 3-0 when junior right fielder Josh Deeg (Lake Orion, MIch. / Lake Orion) drew a bases loaded walk to force in the third run.

The Crusaders' big inning came in the fourth as MU plated five runs, two coming on a homer by senior Dan Harder (Brighton, Mich. / Brighton). Senior catcher Drew Adamiec (Walled Lake, Mich. / Central) and Pelletier each had RBI singles and the Crusaders stole a run when Pelletier came home from third on a double steal to make it 8-0 Madonna after four complete.

Lourdesgot on the board in the top of the fifth, getting to MU starter Jeremy Gooding (Livonia, Mich. / Divine Child Catholic) for an unearned run that cut the Madonna lead to seven, 8-1.

Junior first baseman Matthew Cook (Dresden, Ontario / Lambton Kent Secondary) gave the Crusaders a nine-run lead in the sixth, clubbing his first homer of the season, a two-run shot to right for a 10-1 lead.

After junior reliever Robert Fraser (Westland, Mich. / John Glenn) retired the Gray Wolves in the top of the eighth, senior first baseman Garrett Rebain (Plymouth, Mich. / Plymouth) singled and moved to third on a double by Harder. Junior Jeff Beckles (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) was walked to load the bases and a walk to junior shortstop Logan Curtis (Brooklyn, Mich. / Columbia Central) forced in Rebain with the 11th run of the game to give MU an 10-run lead and invoke the run-rule, ending the game with one out in the eighth.

Gooding (3-4) threw the first six innings, striking out seven while allowing three hits for his third win of the year. Fraser threw the final two innings, striking out a pair.

Harder was the only Crusader to record multiple hits as MU needed just seven base hits in the win to score 11 times.

Drew Lepairz (2-4) took the loss for Lourdes, giving up eight runs in his 3.2 innings of work. Conklin had two hits for the Gray Wolves.

Game Two
The Crusaders scored runs in the first six innings of the game in support of Saarela in a 16-0 game two win.

MU scored single runs in the first and second to take a 2-0 lead after an inning and a half. Cook delivered a RBI single in the first to score Pelletier while Charles singled home junior second baseman Tyler Cotter (Livonia, Mich. / Churchill) with the second MU run.

The Crusaders scored two runs in the third on a Cook sacrifice fly and a Harder single for a 4-0 lead. The lead increased to 7-0 in the fourth with Harder, Pelletier and Cook all driving in runs.

After Saarela stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the fourth, his teammates added six more runs in the fifth with Pelletier delivering the big blow, a three-run homer that just stayed fair down the left field line to give the Crusaders a 13-0 cushion.

MU added three more runs in the top of the sixth with freshman Daniel Campos (Mississauga, Ontario / The Woodlands Secondary) coming through with a RBI ground out before Rebain and Beckles drove in runs with singles to cap the scoring for MU and give the Crusaders a 16-0 lead.

With the first no hitter for MU since the 2009 season, Saarela struck out the lead off batter of the bottom of the seventh before walking two. The lefty responded with another strikeout before Conklin battled and flared an opposite field single to left, breaking up the no-hit bid after 20 outs. Saarela settled back in and got Mark Oehlers to line out to Cotter at second to end the game.

Sophomore catcher Donny Holland (White Lake, Mich. / Lakeland) and Harder each posted four hits while Pelletier drove in four runs and Cook added three more in the victory. A total of 10 different Crusaders collected hits for MU in game two.

Lee Lovejoy (1-4) suffered the loss for Lourdes, giving up seven runs on 10 hits. LU walked eight batters in the game.

The two sides wrap up the series with another double header starting at 12 p.m. on Sunday at Ilitch Ballpark.