LIVONIA, Mich. – The Indiana Tech baseball team opened up its weekend set with Madonna on Saturday afternoon at Ilitch Park, falling 5-4 in game one before taking game two, 9-3, to maintain a two-game lead over the Crusaders for the regular season Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) title.
The Crusaders jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as they scratched four singles off starter
Nate McBroom before tacking on another run in the third off the long ball. The Warriors got on the board thanks to an RBI single from
Reese Olden in the seventh while a double from
Taylor Nychyk scored
Tighe Koehring as the visitors cut the deficit to one after their half of the eighth.
A lead-off homer from the Crusaders would chase McBroom and a 4-2 Madonna lead, while another home run from the hosts gave them a 5-2 lead heading into the top of the ninth. A leadoff walk to
Dante Biagini would be followed by back-to-back doubles from
Matt Bandor and
Glen McClain as the Orange and Black made it a 5-4 game with just one out in the frame, but the hosts got the final two outs to escape with the game one victory.
McClain finished the game going 3-5 at the plate while Olden, Koehring and Nychyk all recorded two hits. McBroom finished with five strikeouts in seven innings of work.
The Crusaders started off game two much like game one as they scored single runs in the first and second to take a 2-0 lead, but Tech came back with three runs in the third with RBI singles from Bandor and Koehring while McClain had a sacrifice fly in the frame. An RBI double from Biagini made it a 4-2 game in the fourth, and while Madonna put up a run in the fifth, that's all they would get off of reliever
Joe Pratt, who went 4.2 innings on the mound to pick up the win as he allowed just two hits.
A four-run eighth, highlighted by a Bandor triple and a two-run blast from McClain, capped the scoring for the Orange and Black as they took game two by a final of 9-3. McClain finished with a game-high three RBI's while Bandor and Olden drove in two runs each.
Tech (30-16, 21-3 WHAC) returns to action Sunday as they conclude their series with Madonna in a split doubleheader. Game one will be a nine-inning conference game while game two will be a seven-inning nonconference matchup. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. from Ilitch Park.
