LIVONIA, Mich. – Strong performances from MU starters Evan Piechota and Johno Rodriguez was all Madonna baseball needed on Wednesday (March 30) as the pair combined for 15 innings and 13 strikeouts in the Crusaders midweek sweep of Siena Heights. The Crusaders, winners of five straight, won the opener by an 8-3 tally before taking game two, 4-0.
The Saints left Ilitch Ballpark with a 10-12 mark overall and a 3-5 record in the WHAC. For the Crusaders, their current five-game winning streak improves the club to 15-12 on the season and 5-2 in the WHAC. The five-game streak will be put to the test this Friday and Saturday when the Crusaders host Northwestern Ohio for a four-game set.
GAME ONE – MADONNA 8, SIENA HEIGHTS 3
Another game, another opportunity for senior pitcher Evan Piechota (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson High School) to stake his claim as one of the best in the WHAC. Backed with run, Piechota stood tall on the mound for eight shutout innings to help keep the Saints off balance throughout the opener. The senior pitcher recorded five strikeouts and allowed only four hits over the course of his second straight eight-inning outing and exited with an 8-0 lead.
In the ninth, the Saints would scratch three runs across to bring the opener to an 8-3 final, all of which were charged to relievers.
On the offensive end, MU was balanced as five different Crusaders found their way into the RBI column. Ryan Lambrecht (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion High School) and Levi Larmour (Oakville, Ontario/Mesa CC) paced the Crusaders with two RBIs each while Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich./Brighton High School), Taylor Grzelakowski (Fraser, Mich./Fraser High School) and John Lauro (Rochester Hills, Mich./UD-Jesuit High School) all chimed in with an RBI.
Lambrect kick-started the eight-run opener with a third inning RBI double to right center while Dokey followed two innings later with a solo shot to give the Crusaders a 2-0 lead. The Crusaders took control in the seventh inning as Lambrecht once again did the honors, this time with a single to right field that scored Zack Byron (Dexter, Mich./Macomb CC) for the second time in as many at bats. Grzelakowski continued the frame with a single of his own to right field, scoring Dokey, and was later brought around by a double by Lauro.
Larmour concluded the scoring in the six-run seventh inning with a two-RBI single through the right side that plated Chase Dobbie (Mississauga, Ontario/Meadowvale Secondary) and Jalen Thomas (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup High School).
In all, the Crusaders recorded 10 hits in the opener while the Saints were held to four.
GAME TWO – MADONNA 4, SIENA HEIGHTS 0
Johno Rodriguez (Sterling Heights, Mich./Indian Hills CC) was dominant in the latter game, holding the Saints to one hit over seven innings of work to record his team-leading second shutout of the season in a 4-0 victory for MU. Rodriguez struck out seven and walked two to notch his fifth win of the campaign – also a team-best – giving up the Saints' lone hit of the contest in the fifth off of a single up the middle.
With Rodriguez mowing down Saints batters, the Crusaders went to work at the plate, led by Taylor Grzelakowski's first inning RBI single to center that scored Byron. The RBI single was the first of two in the nightcap for Grzelakowski as the junior was later heard from in the fifth, this time singling through the right side to score Lambrecht.
In between Grzelakowski's singles, Byron produced a sharply hit single in the second that brought in Mike Tibbits (Plymouth, Mich./Holy Cross) to give the Crusaders an early 2-0 edge. After scoreless innings in the third and fourth, the Crusaders struck again as Lambrecht tripled for the second time this season. Lambrecht's triple sent Dokey around to score, giving the Crusaders a 3-0 lead before Grzelakowski finished the scoring later that inning with his RBI single.
Byron and Grzelakowski accounted for four of the nine Crusader hits in the nightcap.
