LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – So close, twice! Madonna baseball fell one run shy in each of their two games at No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett on Friday (March 11), dropping game one by a 3-2 final and the nightcap by a 5-4 decision. The host Grizzlies improved to a perfect 25-0 on the season while the Crusaders fell to 6-9 after Friday's twin bill.
GAME ONE – (8) GEORGIA GWINNETT 3, (RV) MADONNA 2
Down 3-0 entering the final two innings, MU mounted a comeback that fell inches short on a pair of occasions as the No. 8 Grizzlies remained undefeated on the season after clipping the Crusaders, 3-2. The Crusaders scored their first run of the game in the eighth, an inning that started with a single back up the middle by freshman Jalen Thomas (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup High School). After advancing to second on a passed ball, Thomas came in to score off of an error in left field that followed a Matt Deneau (Amherstburg, Ontario/Saint Thomas Villanova) single to left.
Mike Tibbits (Plymouth, Mich./Holy Cross) came on as a courtesy runner for Deneau, who reached second on the error in left, to give the Crusaders added speed in scoring position. With a runner on second and two down, Ryan Lambrecht (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion High School) stepped to the plate and singled to right field to give the Crusaders a chance at cutting their deficit to one run.
The Lambrecht single created a play at the plate where the speedy Tibbits was called out at home on a strike from the Grizzlies center fielder. The Crusaders ended the eighth down 3-1 after coming inches away from tallying another run in the inning.
Down to their final three outs, head coach Greg Haeger brought in a series of pinch hitters who recorded timely hits, led off by Ryan Freemantle's single to center to start the inning. Freemantle (Georgetown, Ontario/Our Lady of Mount Carmel) gave way to Taylor Grzelakowski (Fraser, Mich./Fraser High School) who reentered as the runner on second.
Zack Byron (Dexter, Mich./Macomb CC), the Crusaders' third pinch hitter of the final fame, doubled down the left field line to bring in Grzelakowski and cut the deficit to one run, 3-2. With two outs in the ninth and a runner in scoring position, Haeger called on Mitch Hudvagner (Cottam, Ontario/Essex District High School) as his fourth pinch hitter of the inning and the sophomore responded with a sharply-hit ball to right center.
Unfortunately for the Crusaders, the ball was abruptly robbed by a diving play from the Grizzlies as the hosts held on for the 3-2 win.
Johno Rodriguez (Sterling Heights, Mich./Indian Hills CC) started and went six innings for the Crusaders in game two of the four-game set. The junior newcomer allowed one earned run and struck out four as part of another solid outing for Haeger and the Crusaders. Zack Schmidtke (Dearborn Heights, Mich./Divine Child Catholic) and Patrick Wierimaa (Redford, Mich./Union High School) combined to toss a hitless final two innings with a strikeout each.
GAME TWO – (8) GEORGIA GWINNETT 5, (RV) MADONNA 4
MU fell 90 feet shy of tying the Grizzlies in the final inning for the second time on Friday, dropping the nightcap by a narrow 5-4 final after the game-tying run was stranded on third. The Crusaders took their first lead of the series in the third inning when Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich./Brighton High School) and Lambrecht combined for back-to-back RBI base hits to propel MU to a 2-1 lead.
The lead didn't last long as the Grizzlies scored four in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead, 5-2. The three-run deficit held until the eighth when the Crusaders brought in two to cut the Grizzlies lead to 5-4. The two-run eighth was highlighted by a deep shot to center field off the bat of junior transfer Jimmy White (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sinclair CC) that scored Matigian.
In the ninth, the Crusaders put a runner in scoring position with less than two outs only to come up empty as the Grizzlies hung on for their 25th win of the season.
Cliff Landess (Carleton, Mich./Airport High School) enjoyed a great outing on the mound, going 4 2/3 while allowing only three hits. The junior pitcher induced double plays when needed and faced 14 batters – the minimum – in his near five innings of work.
Byron, Dokey and Grzelakowski all recorded a hit and scored a run for the Crusaders in the nightcap.
UP NEXT
The Crusaders finish their four-game series against the undefeated Grizzlies Saturday (March 12) at 1 p.m. Only live stats will be available tomorrow due to multiple events on Gwinnett's campus.
