MELBOURNE, Fla. — Brynn Anteau delivered three RBIs, including a key insurance run in the seventh inning, and reliever Anna Battagin worked four strong innings as Madonna University defeated St. Francis (Ill.) 5–3 on Friday at the Space Coast Complex.
Clinging to a one-run lead in the top of the seventh, the Crusaders manufactured a crucial cushion. Faith Peschke, who sparked the offense all afternoon, came around to score when Anteau reached on a fielder's choice, pushing the advantage to 5–3. Battagin then finished off her relief effort in the bottom half, closing out a combined six-hitter to secure the neutral-site win.
Madonna struck first in the opening inning and never trailed. Regan Finkbeiner reached and came home on Anteau's RBI single through the left side for a 1–0 lead in the first. One inning later, Payden Whitmore extended the margin with a solo home run to right field, giving the Crusaders a 2–0 cushion and early momentum.
St. Francis answered quickly in the bottom of the second. Emily Boyle scored when Kaitlyn Schofield drove a triple to right, and Schofield crossed the plate moments later on a single to left by Missy Saldana to even the game at 2–2. After that surge, however, Madonna's pitching and defense limited the Fighting Saints to just one more run — an unearned tally — over the final five innings.
The Crusaders regained control in the fourth. Finkbeiner again set the table and scored on Anteau's RBI groundout back to the circle to make it 3–2. Later in the inning, pinch-runner Parker Gordon came around on a Rylee Fitzpatrick double to right-center, pushing the lead to 4–2 and capping a two-run frame that proved decisive.
St. Francis pulled within one in the fifth when Juliana Anderson scored on a throwing error by the catcher, cutting the deficit to 4–3. From there, Battagin settled in, allowing just one hit and one run (unearned) over 4.0 innings with one walk. Madonna's staff combined to allow three runs, only two earned, on six hits with two walks, efficiently navigating 7.0 innings on 77 pitches, 49 for strikes.
Offensively, Madonna collected nine hits and steadily pressured the St. Francis pitching staff, drawing six walks and being hit by six pitches while leaving 14 runners on base. Peschke led the hit column with a 3-for-4 performance and a run scored, Whitmore added the solo home run and an RBI, and Anteau finished with three RBIs despite just one hit in five at-bats. Fitzpatrick's run-scoring double rounded out the Crusaders' extra-base damage.
St. Francis finished with six hits and six runners left on base. Schofield highlighted the Fighting Saints' effort with her RBI triple and a 3.2-inning stint in the circle, where she was charged with four runs. Despite the pressure, Madonna's early scoring, fourth-inning surge, and seventh-inning insurance, anchored by Anteau and backed by Battagin's relief work, carried the Crusaders to the 5–3 victory.