HOWELL, Mich. -- The Madonna University baseball team (21-21, 16-10) returned  to Cleary University (14-26, 11-15) to face off against the Cougars in a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. In game one the Crusaders would lose 5-8 and in game two would win 15-5 in a seven inning mercy.   

Game 1:

Entering game one the Crusaders would look to continue their offensive showcase in game two against the Cougars Saturday but game one would be almost the same as game one on Saturday. The Crusaders would kick things off in the first inning, recording two runs in the top of the first on a RBI ground rule double from Anthony Sharkas that would score Kyle Revere followed by a Josh Medrano ground rule double that would score Sharkas. The Cougars would then answer in the bottom of the first picking up two runs to make it a 2-2 game after one. The Crusaders would then pick up another run in the top of the second off a triple from Sharkas to score Revere but the Cougars would answer back again picking up two more runs to make it a 4-3 game after two innings. Cleary would then pick up three runs in the fourth inning but the Crusaders were not done yet as they would pick up one run in the fifth from a Logan Ellis sacrifice fly to make it a 7-4 ballgame after five innings. Then in the sixth the Crusaders were looking to make the comeback as Sharkas would pick up another RBI single to put men on first and second with one out. The Cougars were able to get out of the jam and pick up another run in the bottom of the sixth to take down the Crusaders 5-8. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Sharkas would go 3-4 with a triple, a double, and three RBI's. Sharkas was a homerun away from completing the cycle
• Revere would go 2-4 with a triple and two runs scored.
• Luke Spicer would go 2-2 with a walk and a run scored.

Game 2:

In game two, the Crusaders found their offensive spark picking up a total of 15 runs with 10 of those runs coming in the first two innings. Eight out of the nine Crusader batters would pick up at least one hit in this game with four of the eight having a multi-hit game. Medrano would shine in game two having one of his best hitting performances of the year going 3-4 with two doubles and a two run homer (his third of the season) to pick up a total of four RBI's.  Avain Rivera would also have another strong performance going 2-3 with a double, a walk, and four RBI's as well. The Crusaders would also stand strong on the defensive end as well with Logan Ellis getting the start on the mound as well as the DH for the Crusaders. Ellis would go five innings and despite only picking up one strikeout had the defense to back him up with nine ground ball outs and three fly outs to help the Crusaders pick up the 15-5 victory.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 

• Cal Fournier would go 1-2 with a double, a walk, and three RBI's
• Sharkas would go 2-4 with a double and three runs scored.
• Nick Krol would go 1-3 with a triple, a RBI, and two runs scored.

UP NEXT:
Madonna will be back in action on Tuesday, April 23rd back home at Illitch Ballpark to finish their series with Lawrence Tech University that had game two rained out back on April 17th. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM.


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