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Posted by Patrick Moore - Softball - Sun, Mar 7, 2010
Kelly Lesko
Kelly Lesko
Site: Tucson, Ariz. (Lincoln Park)
Game One Score: Madonna University 3, Baldwin Wallace College 2
Game Two Score: Madonna University 6, Hope International University 3
Records: MU 4-0
Next MU event: Monday, March 8 vs. Olivet Nazarene (Lincoln Park), 10:00am

Baldwin Wallace Box | Hope International Box

TUCSON, Ariz. (MadonnaCrusaders.com) - - After opening the 2010 season with a pair of run-rule wins, the No. 14-ranked Madonna University softball team played a pair of much tighter games on Sunday (March 6), downing Baldwin Wallace College 3-2 before posting a 6-3 win over Hope International University in the night cap at Lincoln Park.

BALDWIN WALLACE
Neither team got on the board until the fifth inning when the Crusaders put two runs up with two outs. Junior Tara LaMilza (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) reached on a single and came home one batter later when sophomore Hallie Minch (Garden City, Mich.) doubled to make it 1-0. Freshman Erica Landess (Carleton, Mich.) then singled home Minch for a 2-0 MU lead.

The Crusaders tacked on an insurance run in the sixth when senior Brittney Scero (Canton, Mich.) hit a one-out double and came home on a single from freshman Arielle Cox (Newport, Mich.) to make it 3-0.

The third MU run proved to be the difference in the game as BWC came back with two runs in the top of the seventh as four of the first five BWC hitters reached but junior All-American Jess Irwin (Monroe, Mich.) got Tanya Davis to go down on strikes to end the game.

Irwin (2-0) struck out a season-high 13 hitters while scattering five hits in the complete game win. Scero, Cox, Landess and Minch each posted two hits as part of a 10-hit game for the Crusaders.

HOPE INTERNATIONAL
In the night cap Madonna (4-0) plated single runs in the first and second innings to go up 2-0 after an inning and a half. Scero and Cox led off the game by reaching on back-to-back errors. A double from senior Cat Sidor (Livonia, Mich.) scored Sidor and made it 1-0 after one. Run two came in the second as Landess reached on a walk and came around to score three batters later on a Scero single for a 2-0 lead.

HIU answered back in the bottom of the second, taking the lead with a three-run outburst off of Minch. A pair of Crusader miscues aided the HIU effort as MU lost its early lead.

The game remained 3-2 in favor of Hope International until the sixth when senior Rachael Kethe (Lenox, Mich.) hit a one-out single and then stole second. Kethe came home when junior Kelly Lesko (Trenton, Mich.) tripled and a HIU miscue allowed Lesko to cross the plate for a 4-3 Madonna lead.

The Crusaders added two more runs in the seventh when LaMilza led off with a single and came home on a Landess single to make it 5-4. Landess came home following back-to-back singles from Kethe and Lesko for the 6-3 win.

Minch (2-0) scattered seven hits in picking up her second complete game win of the weekend and did not allow an earned run while striking out two. Kethe posted three hits while LaMilza added a pair and Lesko drove in two.

The Crusaders return to the field on Monday (March 8) with games against Olivet Nazarene and Jamestown starting at 10am.

Contact: Patrick Moore (734) 432-5834