LIVONIA, Mich. -- The Madonna University baseball team (22-24, 17-13) were back home for their senior day and final game of the regular season against Concordia University  (37-12, 24-7). The Crusaders would beat the Cardinals in game one with a final of 7-1 and in game two would lose 14-4 in seven innings. 

Game 1:

Entering game one the Crusaders looked to play spoiler against the Cardinals by picking up a win and taking the Cardinals out of first place in the WHAC. The Cardinals seemed to come out a bit flat in game one and the Crusaders took advantage. Carson Collins would get the start on the mound for the Crusaders and would throw his best game of the year against one of the best offenses in the WHAC. Collins would throw all seven innings giving up only three hits and also picking up five strikeouts on 88 pitches. The game would remain scoreless through the first three innings until the bottom of the fourth where the Crusaders would take off scoring four runs in the inning. The bases would be loaded with no outs early in the inning after a couple hit batters and a walk that allowed for Logan Ellis and Anthony Sharkas both to get RBI singles for the 4-0 lead. The Crusaders would pick up two more in the fifth and one more in the sixth to take a 7-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh. Although the Cardinals would only pick up one run giving the Crusaders a 7-1 victory. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

 

• Sharkas would go 3-4 with a run scored, and RBI.
• Bobby Cavin in his first full game back from injury would go 3-3 with three singles, an RBI, and a walk.
• Nick Krol would go 2-2 with three RBI's.

Game 2:

In game two, the Cardinals found their offensive spark and why they had been one of the top teams in the WHAC all season, picking up a total of 14 runs on 15 hits. But at the beginning of Game 2 it was beginning to look like the Crusaders would complete the sweep as they would strike first in the first inning on a Cavin sacrifice fly to make it a 1-0 game. In the third it was Pablo Rebollar who would bring in a run on a ground out that would make it a 2-1 game. Then in the fourth inning the Crusaders would see their final runs from a Cal Fournier sacrifice fly and a Revere RBI single to make it a 4-2 ball game after four innings. The game was relatively close through the first four innings as the score after four was 4-2 in favor of the Crusaders. Then in the top of the fifth the Cardinals picked up eight runs that would blow the game open. The Crusaders were unable to overcome the deficit and would fall 14-4 in seven innings.   
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 

• Josh Medrano would go 2-4 with two singles.
• Sharkas would go 2-4 with a triple and a stolen base.
• Garrett Kelly would go 1-1 on a pinch hit opportunity with a double.

UP NEXT:
Madonna will be back in action on Wednesday, May 1st for the first round of the WHAC tournament against Lawrence Tech in Lima, Ohio, home of Northwestern Ohio. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM.


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