GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Alex DeYonker breezed through seven innings of work to pace Madonna baseball to its 23rd consecutive win by topping Indiana Tech by an 8-1 final on Wednesday (May 11) at the WHAC Tournament. The win, the 40th of the campaign, marks the first time head coach Greg Haeger and the Crusaders have won 40 or more in a season since 2010 when MU went 48-11 overall.
The Crusaders move into the tournament championship to face the same Indiana Tech squad after the Warriors defeated Davenport, 5-2, to earn the WHAC's second automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament.
Madonna and Indiana Tech will meet Thursday (May 12) at 12 p.m. with an if necessary game to follow should the Warriors top the Crusaders in the first contest.
DeYonker was in control all afternoon against Indiana Tech, allowing one run on two hits in the second inning before turning around to shut down the Warriors the rest of his outing. The junior lefty went on to work seven innings, allowing four hits – none for extra bases – and the one run in the second while striking out a pair over 23 batters faced. With the win, DeYonker moves to 6-1 on the season through nine starts and 54 innings pitched with 38 strikeouts.
The Crusaders scored first for the first time in the tournament, scratching a run across in the opening frame on a RBI single by Ryan Lambrecht (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion High School). Zack Byron (Dexter, Mich./Macomb CC) led off the first inning with a double down the right field line before Lambrecht brought him home to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead after one.
Indiana Tech scored their lone run of the game the following frame on a RBI single back up the middle to knot the game at 1-1 through two innings.
The Crusaders were able to break the tie in the fifth inning when Matt Deneau (Amherstburg, Ontario/Saint Thomas Villanova) sent a two-RBI double to the right-center gap. Deneau's double – his third of 2016 – propelled the Crusaders to a 3-1 lead after five innings as the sophomore catcher batted in his 15th and 16thruns of the campaign.
With DeYonker cruising, the Crusaders broke the game open with a five-run seventh inning, led off by a solo home run by Taylor Grzelakowski (Fraser, Mich./Fraser High School). Grzelakowski's solo fly – the junior's third of the season – was a no-doubter over the right field wall to extend the Crusaders' advantage to 4-1 early in the seventh inning. The home run sparked a big inning for the Crusaders as Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich./Brighton High School) drove a bases-clearing double over the head of the Warriors' left fielder to give the Crusaders a 7-1 lead later in the frame. Lambrecht followed one batter later, driving in his second run of the contest as Dokey scored to put the Crusaders ahead by seven with an 8-1 advantage.
DeYonker handed off to Cliff Landess (Carleton, Mich./Airport High School) who worked a scoreless eighth inning while Jack Zimmerman (Tecumseh, Ontario/St. Anne's Secondary) checked in to finish the game with a scoreless ninth. Landess and Zimmerman combined to strike out three Warriors while only allowing one hit over two innings on the mound.
Bryon, Grzelakowski and John Lauro (Rochester Hills, Mich./UD-Jesuit High School) paced the Crusader bats with two hits each while Dokey led the team in the RBI department by driving in three runs.
