Story by Cornerstone Athletics

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – In the fourth longest game in NAIA Softball history, the Cornerstone (Mich.) Golden Eagles came out on the losing end of a 5-4 decision at home against Madonna (Mich.). Cornerstone rallied to tie the game with two outs in the bottom of the 7th and then neither team scored until the top of the 17th as the setback drops CU to 12-22 on the season and 5-10 in the WHAC. Cornerstone will play game two against Madonna on Saturday in Livonia after the regularly scheduled DH with UM-Dearborn.

Game Flow
Game 1 – Cornerstone jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Rachel Younts doubled home Caityln Hartline. Madonna then struck in the third and sixth innings with a pair of 2-run homeruns to build a 4-1 lead. Cornerstone cut the margin to just one in the bottom of the 6th on RBI singles from Logan Myers and Alexsandra Szajna.

With two outs in the seventh, CU got the game-tying run on a wild-pitch that saw Annie Fila score. That run sent the game into extra innings where neither team scored over the next nine innings until the Crusaders got one across in the top of the 17th.

The two teams combined for 471 total pitches as Madonna’s Erin Combs threw 239 while Rachel Nelson (109) and Brooke Leonard (123) combined for 232 for CU.

26 total hits were recorded while only five errors were committed.

Game 2 – Postponed due to darkness – will be made up on Saturday at approximately 3:30pm in Livonia

From the Box Score
- Alex Szajna and Rachel Younts each had three hits for CU
- Younts finished with a pair of doubles in the contest
- Dating back to 2000, the longest game for CU had been 12 innings in 2005

Starter’s Lines
Game 1 – Rachel Nelson – 7.0IP, 6H, 4R (4ER), 2K, 2BB