SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – The Vikings would meet eye-to-eye with the Crusaders of Madonna University out of Livonia, MI, in the NAIA National Championships Opening Round. The Crusaders boasted an overall record of 48-3 entering the game and were coasting on a 26-game win streak. In the early innings, the Vikings appeared to have a first-game tournament win on the horizon with an early lead. Still, the Crusaders plugged four runs in the bottom of the fourth and one insurance run in the 5th to survive the Viking's potential streak-snapping with a 6-3 win over GVU.
After Madonna plated one early run in the game's first inning, the Vikings would hold them run-less innings two and three but would score three total runs of their own to take a 3-1 lead entering the fourth inning. When entering the bottom of the fourth inning, Grand View held double the hits of those from Madonna (8-4). The Crusaders would double down, scoring four runs on four hits to take a two-run lead.
Jessica Walljasper would extinguish any further damage with a huge strikeout to end the damaging fourth inning, leaving three runners on for MU.
The Vikings mustered up one more hit for the remainder of the game and would struggle to contain the Crusaders, resulting in a 6-3 loss in the Tournament's Opening Round.
UP NEXT
The Vikings will now drop to the consolation side of the Sioux Center bracket to keep their tournament alive. Grand View will now face Bellevue University at 3:30 p.m. on May 14th in an elimination game for both squads. The Vikings and Bruins were supposed to meet earlier this season but were forced to cancel due to weather.
BRACKET UPDATE
Monday, May 13
Game 1: (4) Saint Xavier vs. (5) Bellevue -
SXU WINS 4-3
Game 2: (2) Madonna vs. (3) Grand View
- MU WINS 6-3
Tuesday, May 14
Game 3: (1) Northwestern vs. (2) Madonna; 1:00 PM
Game 4: (3) Grand View vs. (5) Bellevue; 3:30 PM
Wednesday, May 15
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 2; 12:00 PM
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4; 2:30 PM
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5; 5:00 PM
Thursday, May 16
Game 8: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 5; 1:00 PM
Game 9: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 8 (if necessary); 3:30 PM
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for K-College students and will be sold at the gate. Season passes and institutional IDs will not be accepted for free admission. Fans with NAIA passes will receive one free entry per pass-holder.
A livestream will be available for all games, with a pay-per-view rate of $10 per game or $25 for the entire week. Live stats will also be provided at no cost for all three games and linked at the top of the story.
