LIVONIA, Mich. – Madonna baseball set the stage for a big weekend ahead with a doubleheader sweep over the visiting Aquinas College Saints on Wednesday (April 27) at Ilitch Ballpark. The Crusaders snuck by the Saints in game one, 4-3, before cruising in the nightcap by a 16-4 final tally.
The pair of wins lifts MU's current win streak to 14 games and sets the table for the biggest WHAC series of the season when the Crusaders visit No. 15 Davenport on Friday and Saturday (April 29-30). The Crusaders enter the four-game set with a 31-14 overall mark and a 21-4 record in the WHAC – a half game back of the 15th-ranked Panthers.
GAME ONE – (RV) MADONNA 4, AQUINAS 3
After a slow start, the Crusaders kicked it in gear with a four-run fifth inning to take game one by a narrow 4-3 final score. The Saints went ahead early off of a solo home run in the second before adding on a run in the third and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead. With the Crusaders offense struggling early on, the Saints cruised through the first four innings before imploding the fifth with errors.
Down 3-0 entering the home half of the fifth inning, the Crusaders were able to plate all four of their runs in the frame and were jump started by a lead-off walk from Jimmy White (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sinclair CC). White would come around to score two batters later behind a sac bunt RBI from Matt Deneau (Amherstburg, Ontario/Saint Thomas Villanova). Zack Byron (Dexter, Mich./Macomb CC) reached via bunt single and advanced all the way to third on a throwing error – an error that allowed two runs to score as the Crusaders tied the game at 3-3.
After a Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich./Brighton High School) walk, Ryan Lambrecht (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion High School) brought Byron home on a bunt to give the Crusaders a 4-3 lead. In all, the Crusaders plated four runs on one hit and a pair of Saints errors in the lengthy home half of the fifth inning.
Lambrecht's RBI to score Byron would stand as the game-winning run as the team of Jack Zimmerman (Tecumseh, Ontario/St. Anne's Secondary), Patrick Wierimaa(Redford, Mich./Union High School) and Adam Prashad (Mississauga, Ontario/Mississauga Secondary) did their part on the mound to keep the Saints at bay in the opener. Zimmerman entered in the sixth, tossing three innings of two-hit ball while Prashad came on for the final two outs to earn his first career save as a Crusader.
Cliff Landess (Carleton, Mich./Airport High School) got the start in game one and earned the win after racking up three strikeouts while limiting the Saints to the three early runs.
GAME TWO – (RV) MADONNA 16, AQUINAS 4
The Crusaders erupted in game two to score a season-high tying 16 runs in a 16-4 rout of Aquinas to cap off a sweep Wednesday afternoon. The 16-run outburst lifted the Crusaders to their 14th straight victory as they turn all attention toward a huge weekend series at No. 15 Davenport.
Scoring seven runs in the first inning alone, the Crusaders had game two all but wrapped up within a matter of batters as reigning WHAC Player of the Week John Lauro (Rochester Hills, Mich./UD-Jesuit High School) recorded the first of three consecutive RBI singles to get the scoring underway. Lauro's drive was followed by a shot through the left side by Taylor Grzelakowski (Fraser, Mich./Fraser High School) while Ben Matigian (Livonia, Mich./Churchill High School) drove in two runs with a base hit back up the middle.
Mitch Hudvagner (Cottom, Ontario/Essex District High School) concluded the Crusaders' seven-run first inning by stinging a two-RBI double down the left field line that plated Matigian and Jimmy White.
The Crusaders added two more runs in the second off the bat of Mike Tibbits (Plymouth, Mich./Holy Cross) as the senior connected on a two-RBI single up the middle to bring Lauro and Jalen Thomas (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup High School) around to score. With a commanding 9-0 lead, the Crusaders cruised the rest of the way, plating four runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to win the conference nightcap by a 12-run margin.
Tibbits paced the Crusaders with a 3-for-3 performance with three runs batted in and two runs scored. The senior was followed by Matigian who also drove in a trio of runs while Lauro checked in with a 2-for-3 line with four runs scored. Hudvagner and Shane Dokey rounded out the leaders for the Crusaders with a combined four hits and four runs batted in.
Todd Jones (Monroe, Mich./St. Mary Catholic Central) got the nod in game two and went on to toss five innings while holding the Saints to three runs. Jones earned the win, his second of the campaign, before giving way to Zack Schmidtke (Dearborn Heights, Mich./Divine Child Catholic) and Mitchel Sykes (Livonia, Mich./Catholic Central High School) who pitched an inning each to finish out the game for head coach Greg Haeger and the Crusaders.
