BRIGHTON, Mich. - The Madonna University softball team pounded 28 hits, including four home runs, in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference sweep of the University of Michigan-Dearborn at the Legacy Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon.

The win moves the Blue and Gold to 15-5 on the year and 4-2 in league play while the Wolverines fall to 2-2 on the season and 2-2 in the WHAC.

GAME 1: Madonna 13, UM-Dearborn 6
After a scoreless first, the Crusaders' offense broke out in a big way in the second as they sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs on eight hits and a UM-Dearborn error. Makayla Bassage delivered the big hit, a one-out, 3-run home run to left field. Kattie Popko drove in a run with a double to left-center and scored on a Brooke Garbarino two-run single. The final tally came on a single by Brooklyn Dolloff. 

Alyssa Fessenden added a solo home run in the third for the 8-0 lead, but the Wolverines got one back in the bottom of the frame. 

A wild pitch with two outs in the fourth gave Madonna another run before a UM-Dearborn 2-run home run in the fourth cut the lead to six. Another home run for the home team, this one a 3-run shot in the sixth, made it 9-6.

The Blue and Gold stretched the lead again in the seventh as Sarah Holton blasted a 2-run home run to center field and Brooklyn Prescott doubled in a pair for the 13-6 win. 

• TOP PERFORMERS
  • Holton: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI
  • Garbarino: 2-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI
  • Emily Pawelski: 2-for-2
  • Fessenden: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI
• PITCHING DECISION
  • Win: Ciera Jones (7-0) - 5.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
  • Loss: Lanie Ellinger (1-1)
  • Save: Maeson Schlaud (1) - 1.1 IP, 2 K - first career save

GAME 2: Madonna 4, UM-Dearborn 2
Popko got the scoring started in the first with a two-out, solo home run to left field. It was a short-lived lead as UM-Dearborn hit their third home run of the day, a two-run shot to right field in the bottom of the frame, for the 2-1 lead. 

The Crusaders quickly tied the game in the second as Dolloff singled and scored on a two-out base hit by Veronica Pezzoni. The Blue and Gold added on in the third as Popko doubled, Prescott singled and Jenna Gilbert brought them both home with a single to right for the 4-2 lead. 

Prescott hit MU's fourth home run of the afternoon in the fourth, a 3-run blast to left field, to push the lead to five before the Crusaders broke things open in the fifth with five runs on four hits. Dolloff got the inning started with a double, a walk and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Fessenden who singled in a pair. Pezzoni followed with an RBI single and Popko completed the scoring with a two-run single up the middle.

Madisen Henry, who earned the win, allowed just one hit after the first inning, allowing the offense to do the rest.

• TOP PERFORMERS
  • Popko: 3-for-3, 2B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI
  • Pezzoni: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI
  • Prescott: 2-for-3, 2 R, 3 RBI
  • Dolloff: 2-for-3, 2 R
• PITCHING DECISION
  • Win: Henry (3-1) - 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K
  • Loss: Henderson (0-1)

UP NEXT
Madonna remains on the road as they travel to Sylvania, Ohio to face Lourdes University at Gray Wolf Field on Tuesday, April 13 at 3:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available via the Madonna Athletics Network. Live video is available mucrusaders.com/watch with live stats at mucrusaders.com/softballstats. 

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