LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Undefeated no more! Madonna baseball knocked No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett from the ranks of the unbeaten with an 8-5 victory in Lawrenceville, Ga. on Saturday (March 12). The Crusaders snapped a six-game skid with the three-run win over the nation's hottest team, improving their record to 7-9 in advance of the 2016 home opener on Wednesday (March 16) at 2 p.m. against Huntington (Ind.).
The Grizzlies sit at 25-1 after a four-game series with the Crusaders – a series in which the hosts took three-of-four after winning the first three games by a total of four runs.
Sophomore catcher Matt Deneau helped the Crusaders get on top in the series finale with a leadoff double to deep left in the third inning. After starting the frame off with double, Deneau (Amherstburg, Ontario/Saint Thomas Villanova) received a courtesy runner in the form of Mike Tibbits (Plymouth, Mich./Holy Cross) who later scored on a Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich./Brighton High School) RBI to give the Crusaders an early 1-0 lead.
The one-run lead was erased in the bottom of the third as Gwinnett was finally able to crack MU starter Adam Prashad (Mississauga, Ontario/Mississauga Secondary), tying the game at 1-1 through three innings.
The Crusaders broke free with a six-run fifth, taking a 7-1 advantage over the previously undefeated Grizzlies midway through the game. After an error brought home Chase Dobbie (Mississauga, Ontario/Meadowvale Academy), junior outfielder Jimmy White(Cincinnati, Ohio/Sinclair CC) singled through the right side to give the Crusaders a 3-1 edge.
Senior first baseman John Lauro (Rochester Hills, Mich./UD-Jesuit High School) followed one batter later with a single of his own to add to the lead while freshman Jalen Thomas (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup High School) repeated Lauro's effort to tack on the Crusaders fourth run of the frame.
The big inning was capped off by another timely hit from Deneau as the sophomore sent a two-RBI single through the left side of the infield to lift the Crusaders in front by a 7-1 tally.
The Grizzlies would get four back in the sixth to trail by two, but the Crusaders answered in the ninth with an insurance run off the pinch-hitting bat of Mitch Hudvagner (Cottam, Ontario/Essex District High School). Once again called on in a pinch hit situation, Hudvagner responded with an RBI single to left center that scored Tibbits to give the Crusaders an 8-5 edge entering the Grizzlies last at bat.
Bobby St. Pierre (Windsor, Ontario/Crowder CC) trotted out to the mound for closing duties in the ninth and earned his fourth save of the season after sitting down the Grizzlies in 1-2-3 fashion in the final inning. St. Pierre induced a groundout, pop up to first and struck a batter out as part of an efficient ninth inning to secure the three-run victory for the Crusaders.
St. Pierre was part of a late-game pitching combination that held one of the nation's top offenses to three hits over 3 1/3 innings of work (three strikeouts). Zack Schmidtke (Dearborn Heights, Mich./Divine Child Catholic) came on in relief of Prashad in the sixth to pitch 1 1/3 innings while Patrick Wierimaa (Redford, Mich./Union High School) worked a clean eighth inning to set the table for St. Pierre.
Prashad earned the win to move to 1-1 on the season after going 5 2/3 with a pair of strikeouts.
The Crusaders recorded 13 hits, tied for their most in a winning effort this season (St. Catharine, Feb. 28).
