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The 2016 softball season came to a close for Lourdes on Tuesday afternoon as the Gray Wolves fell to 22^nd-ranked Rio Grande 7-4 in an elimination game at the NAIA National Championship Opening Round at the AUM Softball Complex in Montgomery, Ala.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of these kids," head coach Jo Ann Gordon said afterwards.  "They play with heart and passion which is something you can't coach."
 
The Gray Wolves fell behind early, allowing two unearned runs on a two-out double by Kelsey Conkey in the second and a sacrifice fly in the third inning.  The Red Storm added another two-out double in the sixth, building a 4-0 lead.
 
Lourdes had its chances early, putting two runners on in each of the first three innings, but was unable to score.  The Gray Wolves then went down in order in both the fourth and fifth frames.
 
"I thought we did a good job of putting pressure on them in the first few innings," Gordon added.  "We just couldn't get that clutch hit we needed to drive in runs."
 
The Gray Wolves finally broke through in the sixth.  With one out, Hayley Roberts (Brownstown, Mich./Woodhaven H.S.) and Erica Marvaso ( Huron Township, Mich./Woodhaven H.S.) tallied back-to-back singles to again put two runners aboard.  Olivia Stanton (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland H.S.) delivered a RBI single to right to score Roberts and Kayla Encalado (Walbridge, Ohio/Lake H.S.) drew a walk to load the bases.
 
Hillary West (Walbridge, Ohio/Lake H.S.) hit a grounder to first, but the throw to the plate in an attempt to cut down the lead runner was wild, allowing Marvaso and Stanton to score, pulling the Gray Wolves within one.  Taylor Genzman (Saint Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview H.S.) reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases, but a popout and a strikeout ended the threat.
 
"Errors hurt us early, but as we've done all year, we battled back and were able to get within one run," said Gordon.
 
Rio Grande (41-8) added three key insurance runs in the seventh, taking advantage of a hit batter and an error, as two of the runs were unearned.
 
Lourdes (18-30) again tried to battle back in the team's last at bat.  Megan Mosiniak (Swanton, Ohio/Evergreen H.S.) led off with a single and Roberts followed with a walk.  Marvaso singled to center to load the bases before the Gray Wolves hit into their second double play of the day.  Encalado added a  late RBI single up the middle to pull Lourdes within three with two outs, bringing the tying run to the plate, but the Gray Wolves were not able to complete the comeback.
 
Mosiniak, Marvaso, and Stanton had three hits each as the Gray Wolves outhit the Red Storm 10-9 for the game.
 
Conkey earned the win (19-5) in the circle, allowing two earned runs in a complete game effort while striking out five and walking three.  Marissa Kostick (Saint Charles, Mich./Saint Charles H.S.) suffered the loss (10-11), despite allowing just three earned runs over the seven innings.