LIVONIA, Mich. – Siena Heights baseball continued Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play as they traveled north to compete against the Madonna University Crusaders. The WHAC doubleheader resulted in a split, with Madonna winning game one 15-6 and Siena winning game two 5-1, making the Saints' overall record 10-20 and their conference record 2-6.
Game 1: SHU 6, Madonna 15 – 7 innings
Leading game one for the navy and yellow was Cole VanWasshenova, who batted .500, crossed home once, and brought in one run. Cameron Hammer went 2-for-4 and scored once as Parker Mabe hit .250 and tallied one run. Jakob Scroggie (1-for-4) brought in one run and scored once himself. Both Matthew Love and Anthony Scali made it home once during game one. Jacob Jackson brought in one run, as did Kenny Layman. Starting pitcher Christian Jabiro (L, 1-4) saw 3.1 innings of action to face 21 batters and strike out one.
SHU was the first team to bring runners home. VanWAsshenova scored on a bases-loaded groundout, giving the Saints the 1-0 lead. The Crusaders would score once in the bottom of the first to tie up the game. However, strong defense from the home team would leave three runners on base for Siena as the Crusaders' offense would bring home 14 batters to make the score 15-1 in the bottom of the fifth.
With two outs in the top of the sixth and two runners on base, Scroggie stepped up to bat and brought in one run. Next was Jackson, who hit an RBI single towards first base bringing in Mabe. The Saints continued with back-to-back runs as Scroggie crossed home plate, followed by pinch-runner Scali and Love. Scoring five runs in the top of the sixth to bring the score to 15-6, where it would remain through the final three outs.
Game 1: SHU 5, Madonna 1 – 9 innings
Hammer scored a run and collected one RBI, leading the Saints to victory in game two. VanWasshenova batted .333 during game two and scored once. He made it to first base twice on walks. Haydn Smith batted .500 and put one run on the board. Mabe and Collin Bammer each crossed home plate once. While Layman and Adam Wilding both brought in one run apiece. Pitcher Chase Molnar (W, 1-2) pitched all nine innings facing 31 batters, allowing only one earned run, and sat down nine.
Jumping to a quick lead, Siena put a run on the board in the top of the second and held the home team to no hits in the bottom of the inning. The third inning saw another runner cross home as Layman hit an RBI double toward right field to bring in Hammer. The top of the fourth saw two more runs for SHU as Smith scored thanks to a hit from Wilding, and VanWasshennova ran home after a hit from Hammer, bringing the score to 4-0.
The SHU defense worked hard to hold Madonna to only two hits in the first four innings. The home team would cross home plate once off a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Saints' defense held Madonna to four hitless innings and four straight three-up-three-down innings to finish the game with the final score of 5-1.
Up Next
SHU travels to Spring Arbor University to take on the Cougars on Tuesday, April 5th, the first pitch set to fly at 2:00 PM.
