THE BASICS

Scores: MU 3, SEU 15; MU 0, SEU 2

Records: #RV Madonna (8-7), #1 Southeastern University (12-2)

Location: Ted A. Broer Stadium - Lakeland, Fla.

LAKELAND, Fla. -  The Madonna University men's baseball team was not able to pull off an upset over NAIA No. 1 and defending NAIA World Series champions Southeastern University, falling 15-3 in game one and 2-0 in the nightcap. The Fire pitching staff was lights out on the mound, allowing just four hits and one earned run in 14 innings of play, while Jack Ferguson was a bright spot for the Crusaders on the mound, holding the top rated team in the country to just two runs.

GAME ONE

Madonna 3, Southeastern 15

• Fourth Inning

  • The Crusaders were held scoreless for six of the seven innings in the contest, scratching across three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Following a walk by Jalen Thomas, Nick Sykes was hit by a pitch to advance Thomas to second base with two outs. Noah Renaud stepped to the plate and ripped a two-out double down the left field line that scored Thomas for the first MU run. An error by the Fire first baseman on the following play scored both Sykes and Renaud for two unearned runs, cutting the deficit to 8-3.

GAME TWO

Madonna 0, Southeastern 2

• First Inning

  • The Fire homered on their first at bat of the game, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead.

• Second inning

  • The Fire extended their lead in the second inning on a two-out single that put them ahead 2-0, allowing their pitching staff do the remainder of the work.

• Fourth Inning

  • The Crusaders threatened in the fourth as Sykes stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, although a fly ball to right field would end the inning for the Blue and Gold..

INSIDE THE BOX

• Game One

  • Renaud tallied the only hit of the game for the Blue and Gold, a two-out double that knocked in the lone RBI.

  • Donovan Thacker got the start on the mound, lasting 1.2 innings and allowing five runs, only two of which were earned.

  • Greg Goodbred, Kevin Smith Jr., Ethan Whitcomb and Joe Wozniak all saw action out of the pen, although not much could be done to stop the high powered Fire offense.

• Game Two

  • Three different Crusaders recorded hits in game two, as Joey Pejuan, Frankie Lucska, and Alex Garbacik each found their way on base.

  • Ferguson lasted all six innings for MU, allowing just two runs on five hits. He struck out eight batters while only walking one.

UP NEXT

• The Crusaders will return to Ted A. Broer Stadium to complete the four-game series with Southeastern on Mar. 2 with first pitch slated at 12:00 p.m.

• Live coverage links will be available at www.mucrusaders.com/live

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