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Posted by Patrick Moore - Baseball - Sat, Mar 6, 2010
Brad Lineberry
Brad Lineberry
Site: Groveland, Fla. (Southlake High School)
Score: Madonna University 15, Notre Dame College 4
Records: MU 8-2, NDC 9-4
Next MU event: Sunday, March 7 vs. Mount Marty (Lake Myrtle Park), 2:00pm

BOX SCORE

GROVELAND, Fla. (MadonnaCrusaders.com) - - The day after winning a pair of one-run games, the No. 21-ranked Madonna University baseball team upended Notre Dame College 15-4 on Saturday (March 6) as part of the Russ Matt Invitational at Southlake High School.

Senior Kyle Bolton (Burlington, Ont.) earned the win for MU (8-2), throwing eight innings, striking out five and not allowing a walk in moving to 1-0 on the year. Freshman Brad Lineberry (Canton, Mich.) led MU at the plate as he had four of the Crusaders 19 hits on the day. Senior Ted Toune (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and junior Matt Kay (Canton, Mich.) each registered three hits with Kay driving in a pair of runs.

Madonna got on the board first, scoring a single run in the top of the first as Toune hit a one-out double and after moving up on a wild pitch, came home on a single from Kay to make it 1-0.

The Crusaders tacked on three more runs in the top of the second as sophomore Mike Gansser (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) led off with a single and was followed by singles from Lineberry and sophomore Drew Adamiec (Walled Lake, Mich.) to load the bases. All three runners moved up on a wild pitch that scored Gansser to make it 2-0. A ground out from junior Shawn Little (Canton, Mich.) brought home Lineberry to make it 3-0 and a single from Toune scored courtesy runner Steve Pelletier (Farmington Hills, Mich.) to put the Crusaders on top 4-0.

Notre Dame got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth as Bolton allowed back-to-back hits to open the inning to score the first run and run two came in on a single but Benji Jarabeck was caught trying to advance to second on the throw home to end the inning.

MU got those two runs back in the top of the fifth as junior Tim Duffy (Carleton, Mich.) led off with a walk and pinch runner Alex Charles (Farmington Hills, Mich.) moved to second when the ball junior Jeff Bultinck (Sterling Heights, Mich.) laid down for a sacrifice bunt was misplayed to put runners at the corners. The Crusaders executed the double steal to score Charles and allow Bultinck to move to third on the throw to the plate. Lineberry then drove in Bultinck to make it 6-2.

NDC made it 6-3 in its half of the fifth but MU responded with a run of its own in the sixth to make it 7-3.

The Falcons made it a 7-4 game in the eighth but the Crusaders responded back in a big way, plating eight runs in the top of the ninth to blow the game open. Madonna registered six hits in the inning and combined with two Notre Dame errors made it 15-4 heading into the last of the ninth.

Sophomore Brian Diroff (Allen Park, Mich.) came in to throw the ninth and issued a walk and allowed a single but also struck out a pair of batters to close out the 15-4 MU win.

The Crusaders return to the diamond on Sunday for a split double header. MU takes on Mount Marty starting at 2pm and will close the day with a game against Calumet College of St. Joseph at approximately 3:30pm. Both games are slated to be carried live on the Crusader Radio Network - presented by the Madonna University Office of Advancement - with the pregame show set for 15 minutes prior to first pitch.

Contact: Patrick Moore (734) 432-5834