FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 1-seeded Indiana Tech baseball team ended its Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Postseason Tournament run on Tuesday, falling to No. 3-seeded Madonna in the best-of-three series, 5-4, in game two and 12-10 in game three at Warrior Field.
The Warriors were the ones who would put a score on the board first in game one after a scary situation saw Madonna pitcher Tyler Butzin taking a line drive from the bat of
Matt Bandor off the arm, forcing him to leave the game after just two batters. Bandor would come around to score on the
Bobby Bennett walk for Tech to take the 1-0 early lead. Madonna answered back in their half of the third to tie things at one a piece before taking sole possession of the lead in the bottom of the fourth, 2-1.
Another score from the tournament third-seeded Crusaders in the sixth would come before a big offensive seventh inning for the Warriors. After two quick outs and a pair of walks,
Glen McClain would load the bases after being hit by a pitch with
Tighe Koehring on deck. Koehring put Tech within one after a single would bring home
Reese Olden. With the bases still full of orange uniforms,
Ryan Meisenheimer drew the walk to tie the score at three-all. Bennett followed up his teammates walk with one of his own, bringing home McClain for the 4-3 Orange and Black lead.
Madonna answered in the bottom of the seventh to knot the score back up, this time at 4-4, but it was an eighth inning single from the Crusaders that would put them back in the driver's seat at 5-4. The Warriors would not have an answer in their half of the ninth, sending the series, and tournament championship, to the if-necessary contest.
Brandon Hillier would go 2.2 innings as the game's starter, allowing one run on two hits.
Jared Harvey would take the loss after 1.1 innings work, also giving up one run on two hits. Bandor went 2-3 with two runs while Bennett was 0-2 with three walks and two RBI's.
In game two, a home run off the bat of Madonna's right fielder, Jimmy White, provided the visitors with an immediate 2-0 score in the opening frame of the contest. The Crusaders added one more before Tech came up to bat in their half of the inning trailing 3-0. A six-run second from Madonna would put the Warriors in a 9-0 hole before a double from
Dominic Giuliani led to Tech's first score after he would advance home on a sacrifice fly later in the inning.
The Orange and Black slowly began to dig into Madonna's lead after Bandor and McClain would go yard on back-to-back solo homers to left field to start off the bottom of the third. Koehring would help continue to wake the Warrior's offense after a single to right center in the fourth would score two runs, putting them back just 9-5. A single from Meisenheimer would follow, ending the inning with Tech back 9-6.
Back-to-back scores in the fifth and sixth inning created more assurance for the Madonna bench, as they increased their advantage to 12-6 after their half of the six. A two-run bomb from Bandor, his second of the game, gave the Warriors new life in the seventh as he cut the deficit to 12-8.
Looking to dig into the Crusader's lead, the Orange and Black led off the eighth with consecutive walks issued to Meisenheimer and Bennett to put two on with nobody out. Biagini would bring both runners home after a single up the middle, bringint the Warriors to within two, 12-10, as the contest headed into the final frame. Tech would not find an answer to the Madonna pitching effort in the bottom half of the ninth though, as Cliff Landess, making his second appearance of the day, shut the door on the Warriors with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to give the visitors the 12-10 victory and the 2018 WHAC Tournament Championship.
Charles Dunavan would take the loss for Tech after he would allow three runs, all earned, on one hit in one-third's inning work. Bandor finished the game 3-5 with three RBI's and three runs, while McClain went 4-6 with two runs.
Tech (42-19) will now await their NAIA Opening Round location site and opponent with the draw set to be announced Thursday afternoon. Opening round action is set to begin May 14 through May 17.
