ROCKFORD, MICH - Madonna broke open a tight game with a six-run sixth inning Saturday and rolled to a 7-0 win over Aquinas.
GAME 1:
The Crusaders led just 1-0 through five innings before Luke Spicer's two-run home run sparked the decisive frame and sent Madonna to the shutout victory.
The first run came in the fourth, when Aamir Mitchell stole third and scored on a throwing error by Aquinas pitcher Sam Pollack. That slim margin held until the sixth, when Madonna's offense surged. Spicer connected for a two-run homer with pinch-runner Ty Rowe aboard to make it 3-0. Kevin Davis followed later in the inning with a two-run double down the right-field line, Gus Simon added an RBI double and Brett Reed capped the outburst with an RBI single.
Madonna finished with seven runs on nine hits and did not commit an error. The Crusaders also made the most of their chances, leaving only two runners on base. Mitchell helped set the tone at the top of the order, going 2-for-4 with two doubles, a stolen base and a run scored. Davis drove in two runs, Spicer delivered two RBIs with his home run, and Reed added another run batted in.
On the mound, Jason Jurczyk turned in the key pitching performance for Madonna. The starter worked six scoreless innings, allowed seven hits, walked three and struck out five. Aquinas put eight runners on with eight hits overall, but the Saints could not break through. Graham Sim finished the game in relief as Madonna's staff completed the seven-inning shutout.
Aquinas also collected eight hits and left nine runners on base, but Madonna's pitching and defense kept every threat contained. Pollack was charged with the early damage before the Crusaders broke through late against Aquinas pitching.
GAME 2:
Madonna broke the game open inning by inning Saturday afternoon, piling up 19 hits and getting eight scoreless innings from
Trey Acker in a 9-0 win over Aquinas in Rockford. The Crusaders scored in the second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, then finished off the shutout behind
Jackson Manoulian in the ninth.
The decisive stretch came in the middle innings, when Madonna turned a 2-0 lead into a comfortable margin. After Logan Ellis opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second and Luke Spicer added a run-scoring single in the fourth, the Crusaders struck for two more in the fifth. Kevin Davis lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home Kooper Etheridge, and Ellis followed with another RBI single. A throwing error in center field on the play allowed an additional run to score, pushing the lead to 4-0.
Madonna kept the pressure on from there. Donovan Thompson hit a two-run homer to center in the sixth, scoring Etheridge for a 6-0 advantage. An inning later, Carson Noon drove a two-run homer to left, bringing home Gus Simon and extending the lead to 8-0. Davis capped the scoring in the eighth with an RBI single to left.
Acker controlled the game throughout his outing, allowing three hits over eight innings while walking two and striking out five. Aquinas put only limited pressure on the Madonna starter, and the Crusaders backed him with error-free defense. Manoulian handled the ninth, allowing one hit and recording two strikeouts to complete the combined four-hit shutout.
Several Madonna hitters led the offense. Etheridge finished 3 for 3, scored three runs and stole two bases. Simon added three hits, including a double, and scored once. Spicer also collected three hits with an RBI, while Thompson had two hits and two RBIs on his home run. Ellis figured in multiple scoring plays as the Crusaders consistently created traffic on the bases, even while leaving 12 runners on base.
Madonna finished with nine runs, 19 hits and no errors, compared with four hits and three errors for Aquinas. The Crusaders' final line reflected a complete performance, steady pitching, clean defense and timely extra-base power, with Noon's seventh-inning homer providing one more emphatic swing before the shutout was sealed.
