Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Lourdes fell behind early in both ends of a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon and could not recover, dropping a pair of games to Northwestern Ohio 7-2 and 8-2 at Racer Field in Lima, Ohio.
 
In game one the Racers jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings.  Ryan Lozada singled home two in a three-run second inning and Vince Anello hit the first of two home runs in the contest in the third, a two-run shot.
 
Tim DeCant (Northwood, Ohio/Lake H.S.) got Lourdes offense on the scoreboard in the sixth.  He was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a Phill Dysard (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) single.
 
Northwestern Ohio answered with two more runs in the sixth on Anello's second round-tripper of the game.
 
Lourdes scored its final run in the ninth when Josh Redies (Saline, Mich./Saline H.S.) reached on a lead-off error, moved to third on a double by Cole Fitzgerald (Rome, N.Y./Centerville [Ohio] H.S.), and scored on another error.
 
Dysard was the lone Gray Wolf with two hits in the opener as Lourdes tallied nine hits in game one.  Anello went 4-for-4 with four runs batted in to pace Northwestern Ohio.
 
Rubin Medina earned the victory (2-1) for the Racers, allowing just one run and eight hits in eight innings of work.  He did not walk anyone and struck out four.  Frank Shaffer (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg H.S.) suffered the loss (2-5), allowing seven runs and 15 hits in 5.2 innings on the hill.
 
In game two Northwestern Ohio scored six times in the second inning to jump on top.  Anello hit his third home run of the day and Randal Muhlenkamp added a two-run blast.  The final three runs of the inning were all unearned following a pair of Lourdes errors.
 
Lourdes scored twice in the fourth as Redies walked and Fitzgerald followed with a single.  Garrett Jex (Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green H.S.) loaded the bases after reaching on a fielder's choice and Redies scored one batter later on a Marty Ramirez (Toledo, Ohio/Start H.S.) groundout.  A Victor Diaz (Medina, Ohio/Cloverleaf H.S.) groundout later in the inning scored Fitzgerald to cut the deficit to 6-2.
 
A two-run double in the sixth by Cesar Loiz closed out the scoring for the Racers and Northwestern Ohio again took advantage of a Lourdes error.
 
Ryan Burns earned the win (1-0) for Northwestern Ohio (18-17, 12-8 WHAC), allowing just four hits and the two runs in six innings of action on the hill.  Lee Lovejoy (Ravenna, Ohio/Ravenna H.S.) suffered the loss (2-5), allowing eight runs, only four of which were earned, and eight hits over five innings plus.
 
Lourdes (14-22-1, 5-13-1) will continue its 14-game road trip on Saturday afternoon as the Gray Wolves begin a four-game weekend series in Grand Rapids, Mich.  First pitch of the doubleheader at Davenport is slated for 1 p.m.