CLINTON, Iowa - A Dean Molitor grand slam broke an 8-8 tie in the eighth inning and sent Clarke College to a 13-8 victory against the Ashford University baseball team on Tuesday night, ending the Saints' season-high six-game win streak.

Molitor's blast, an opposite-field poke that carried over the 325-foot sign in right, took the last breath out of a resistant Saints' squad, who led by two runs heading into the eighth frame.

Molitor drove in a game-high seven runs on the evening hitting in the nine spot as the Crusaders pounded out 18 hits.

The Saints (12-22, 2-10 MCC) had their momentum halted after picking up six consecutive wins against Indiana University-Northwest and Purdue University-North Central last week. Clarke (15-14 overall, 7-5 MCC) moved to one game over .500 and won their third straight over Ashford in the season series.

The game featured five lead changes and a tie.

The Saints opened as well as they could have hoped for, generating a run in their first turn at the plate after a leadoff triple from Mike Ray of Sycamore, Ill. He was scored on the ensuing at-bat by Austin Poindexter of Bettendorf.

But a defensive miscue helped load the bases for Clarke in the second inning and Molitor unloaded them with an RBI double that rolled to the outfield wall.

Junior catcher Jason Fletcher of Gilberts, Ill., drove in a pair of runs with successive two-out RBI singles. He also scored twice and had three hits on the day.

Jake Peters of St. Charles, Ill., tied it up at 6-all with a two-run bloop single to right field. Peters then came across to score for a temporary go-ahead run on a delayed steal attempt as the throw from shortstop Ryan Kelly zipped to the backstop.

Roman Davis of Gardnerville, Nev., drove in his team-leading 27th RBI to give Ashford a two-run cushion.

The Crusaders executed a pair of bunt singles in the eighth to help set the stage for Molitor's grand slam. Clarke wasn't afraid to play small ball, laying three sacrifice bunts and successfully reached on four bunt singles.

Ashford was unable to score in the final two frames, managing a pair of back-to-back two-out singles in the ninth before a fielder's choice groundout ended the game.

Junior Billy Becker of Peru, Ill., was tagged for eight runs on six hits in six innings of work. He issued five walks and fanned two.

AU put up three runs against Clarke reliever Justin Haas, who came in with a 1.93 ERA in eight appearances. Haas got the win with just one run charged as earned in his three innings pitched.

Ashford looks to get back on the winning track this afternoon for a doubleheader at Hannibal-LaGrange College. The Saints toppled the Trojans in a two-game homestand at Alliant Energy Field in late-March.