ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 2016 WHAC opener did not go as planned for Madonna baseball as the Crusaders suffered an 8-6 road setback at Concordia-Ann Arbor on Wednesday (March 23). Scheduled for a doubleheader, Wednesday's second game was suspended due to darkness entering the top of the fourth inning. The suspended game is slated to resume at a later date this season.

The Crusaders grabbed the lead early in game one, scoring four runs in the second inning off of four hits and one Concordia error. Levi Larmour (Oakville, Ontario/Mesa CC) drove in the first run of the inning while Ben Matigian (Livonia, Mich./Churchill High School) followed two batters later with a two-RBI single that brought around Zack Byron(Dexter, Mich./Macomb CC) and Larmour.

The Crusaders snuck in another run via error to move ahead 4-0 after 1 1/2 innings in Ann Arbor.

From there, the Cardinals scored seven runs over the third and fourth innings to take a 7-4 lead – a lead that would hold and result in the Crusaders first loss to Concordia since April 9, 2014.

Down 8-4 entering the ninth inning, MU pushed back to cut the deficit in half before the Cardinals edged out the 8-6 win after the Crusaders left the bases loaded to end the opener.

Matigian's two-RBI single in the second paced the MU bats while Larmour, Ryan Lambrecht (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion High School) and Jalen Thomas (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup High School) chipped in by batting in a run each in the setback. Byron and Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich./Brighton High School) combined to go 6-for-9 while John Lauro (Rochester Hills, Mich./UD-Jesuit High School) went a perfect 4-for-4.

Jack Zimmerman (Tecumseh, Ontario/St. Anne's Secondary) came on in relief for head coach Greg Haeger's squad and tossed four innings of five-hit, one-run ball.

The Cardinals jumped ahead in game two to take a 4-1 lead before the contest was called due to darkness. The game will be resumed in the top of the fourth with MU trailing, 4-1, at a date to be determined.

The Crusaders hit the road for a four-game set at Cornerstone Friday and Saturday (March 25-26). First pitch for the four-game series is slated for 12 p.m. Friday with live video coverage available via Cornerstone on portal.stretchinternet.com/corner/.