Site: Dayton, Tenn. (Lions Field)
Scores: Madonna 6, Shawnee State 3; Shawnee State 7, Madonna 4
Records: MU (1-4), SSU (1-4)
Next MU event: Saturday, Feb. 8 – vs. Rio Grande (Dayton, Tenn.) – 11 a.m.

DAYTON, Tenn. – The Madonna University baseball team opened its 2014 season with a doubleheader split against Shawnee State on Friday morning (Feb. 7). MU won the opening game behind a balanced offensive attack in a 6-3 victory before seeing its bats go cold in a 7-3 loss at Lions Field as part of the Tennessee Valley Invitational hosted by Bryan College.

Game One
Freshmen Taylor Grzelakowski (Fraser, Mich. / Fraser), Ryan Lambrecht (Lake Orion, Mich. / Lake Orion) and Dalton Ovesen (Oxford, Mich. / Lake Orion) all collected their first career hits while Lambrecht recording his first collegiate home run as part of Madonna's 6-3 win.

In addition to the trio of rookies, senior Victor Barron (Fowlerville, Mich. / Fowlerville) and sophomore John Lauro (Rochester Hills, Mich. / University of Detroit Jesuit) also posted base hits in support of senior Dan Stoney (Plymouth, Mich. / Canton) on the mound. Stoney (1-0) was making his first career start on the hill and went the first five innings, striking out four while scattering three hits for his first victory of the season. Freshman Michael Kanitra (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson) tossed the final two innings, striking out one in his collegiate debut.

Behind 1-0 before they even came to bat, the Crusaders took the lead in the bottom of the second scoring a pair of runs. Lauro led off with a walk and after moving to second on a single from Ovesen, scored when a ball off the bat of freshman Dee Jawad(Dearborn Heights, Mich. / Crestwood) was misplayed, allowing Lauro to cross home plate and tie the game at one. Ovesen scored one batter later on a ground out to give MU a 2-1 lead after two innings.

The lead was short lived as the Bears squared the game at 2-2 in the fourth on a home run from Nolan West.

MU retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Lauro – who led off with a single – scored on a Barron double for a 3-2 lead. The MU lead increased to two, 4-2, when the Crusaders pulled off a double steal with Jawad stealing home as Grzelakowski took second for the two-run cushion.

Lambrecht added to the advantage in the fifth with his first home run to lead off the inning and give MU a 5-2 lead. Another double steal gave the Crusaders when sophomore Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich. / Brighton) stole home for a 6-2 lead.

Kanitra allowed a run in the top of the seventh but limited the damage to just one run in closing the door to seal the 6-3 MU win.

Shawnee State had six players post base hits in the loss. Cody Strayer went the first four innings for the Bears, allowing four runs on four hits while striking out four and walking two.

Game Two
Shawnee State took a 4-0 lead after two innings and did not look back in a 7-4 win to split the doubleheader. MU tallied six hits in the setback with Lauro leading the way with a pair while Lambrecht drove in two runs.

The Bears took advantage of a tough first outing from freshman lefty Alex DeYonker (Livonia, Mich. / Franklin) as DeYonker (0-1) walked five while hitting two more batters in his 3.2 innings of work. The Crusader defense committed a pair of errors, leading to three unearned runs.

SSU plated a single run in the first and three more in the second to stake itself to a 4-0 lead after two complete innings. MU got on the board in the top of the third as senior Ryan Lech (Macomb, Mich. / L'Anse Creuse North) led off with a single and eventually made his way to third. With junior Mike Tibbits (Plymouth, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central) on first, another double steal plated Lech with the first MU run of the game and a 4-1 mark on the scoreboard.

MU trimmed its deficit to two with a RBI single from Lauro that plated Dokey in the fourth for a 4-2 game.

Shawnee State added two more runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to lead 7-2 heading into the top of the seventh inning.

Sophomore Ben Matigian (Livonia, Mich. / Churchill) reached on a one-out pinch hit single and moved to third when Jawad reached on an error to put two on for Lambrecht. The rookie shortstop continued his solid debut with a two-RBI single that scored both runners to make it 7-4, but the Crusaders could not plate another run, falling by three.

Junior Justin Hicks (Fowlerville, Mich. / Fowlerville) threw the final 2.1 innings in relief of DeYonker, giving up five hits and three runs while striking out one.

Derek Moore (1-0) tossed a complete game for Shawnee State, striking out six while walking just one. SSU had eight different players post base hits with five driving in runs in the win.

MU wraps up its four-game weekend set with an 11 a.m. doubleheader against Rio Grande at Lions Field.