Maeson Schlaud pitching at Lindsey Wilson
2
Winner Madonna (Mich.) MU 31-8
1
St. Xavier (Ill.) SXU 33-3
Winner
Madonna (Mich.) MU
31-8
2
Final
1
St. Xavier (Ill.) SXU
33-3
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Madonna (Mich.) MU 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 6 3
St. Xavier (Ill.) SXU 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 1

W: Schlaud, Maeson (1) L: Golic, Allison (1)

Game Recap: Softball | | Zachary Shore

Clegg, Schlaud lead Crusaders past Cougars

COLUMBIA, Ky. - The Madonna University softball team got a gem from freshman Maeson Schlaud, and timely hits and defense from Amy Clegg to defeat No. 14 and two-seeded St. Xaviers University (Ill.) 2-1 at Marilyn D. Sparks Park on the campus of Lindsey Wilson College in the first round of the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round on Monday afternoon. 

Fourth time's the charm for the Blue and Gold versus the Cougars as Maeson Schlaud (10-2) allowed one run on four hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts over seven innings. The Crusaders tagged SXU's Allison Golic with six hits, including a pair in the fourth for the win. 

Both teams had plenty of traffic on the bases in the first three frames, but it was the Crusaders who struck first in the fourth. Emily Pawelski got the rally started with a walk, Alyssa Fessenden reached on an error and Selena Deault loaded the bases with a walk. Makayla Bassge got MU on the board with a single to left to score Natalie Billings. Clegg followed with the game-winning RBI single with a shot to right field for the 2-0 lead. 



The Crusaders had a big moment in the fifth as Kattie Popko collected her 200th career hit, the eighth player in program history to reach the milestone with a leadoff single to left. 



The Cougars put two on with one out in the fifth and an error on a stolen base brought in a run before Schlaud stranded a runner on third with a pair of strikeouts. In the seventh, Clegg snagged a line drive above her head and ended the game with a groundout up the middle. 



 Clegg paced the offense with a pair of hits while Billings and Jamie Gietl each scored as pinch runners for Pawelski and Fessenden, respectively. 

The Crusaders improved to 31-8 on the season and will face the game one winner and host Blue Raiders on Tuesday, May 18 at 1 p.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game on Wednesday at 1 p.m. while the loser will play in the consolation championship at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. 

Fans can catch all the action at mucrusaders.com/coverage. 

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