Lourdes opened a four-game series with Indiana Wesleyan on Monday at the Perfect Game Complex in Cartersville, Ga., splitting a pair of games, both of which involved walk-off hits. The Gray Wolves dropped the opener 6-5 before earning a 7-6 victory in eight innings in game two.
"Today we were involved in two well-played games," head coach
Jeremy Snow said afterwards. "I'm proud of how we battled all day. We battled back every time they took the lead, giving ourselves chances to win. The key to our success is quality at bats, and today we had several at key times."
The Gray Wolves took the lead in the opening inning of game one as
Noah Childress (Toledo, Ohio/Start H.S.) delivered a sacrifice fly to plate
Jay Denman (Toledo, Ohio/Saint Francis de Sales H.S.).
The Wildcats answered with four runs in the second, including back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning. Lourdes picked up a second run in the third on another Childress sacrifice fly which scored Denman to pull within two.
In the fourth, Lourdes tied the game with a two-run double by
Dallas Riggs (Prescott, Ariz./Paradise Valley H.S.), which scored Denman and
Zak Laubscher (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg H.S.). Indiana Wesleyan retook the lead in the fifth, only for the Gray Wolves to tie the game with an infield single by
Zach Brown (Oregon, Ohio/Clay H.S.) in the top of the seventh.
Indiana Wesleyan pulled out the victory in the bottom of the seventh though, as Ryan Bixler delivered a two-out RBI single.
George Pastor (Walled Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central H.S.) led the Lourdes offense with three hits as the Gray Wolves tallied nine total in the opener.
Tim Olvaney earned the win (1-0) in relief, tossing the seventh inning for the Wildcats while
Liam Bloom (Swanton, Ohio/Swanton H.S.) suffered the loss after coming on to pitch the bottom of the seventh.
Game two also went back and forth. Indiana Wesleyan plated one in the top of the first before the Gray Wolves answered with two in the bottom of the frame as
Glen Crabtree (Medina, Ohio/Black River H.S.) produced a sacrifice fly and Pastor scored on a passed ball.
The Wildcats added single runs in the second and third to retake the lead, but Lourdes plated three in the bottom of the third.
Noah Hayes (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek H.S.) delivered a two-run double after Denman scored on a passed ball, giving Lourdes a 5-3 lead.
Indiana Wesleyan retook the lead with two in the fourth and another in the fifth, but Lourdes tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. Pastor produced a run-scoring single which plated
Derek Scott (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch H.S.) to tie the game and force extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth,
Kyle Sherman (Collierville, Tenn./Rossville H.S.) led off with a single, and moved around to third on a wild pitch and a passed ball.
Devin Stanley (Euclid, Ohio/Saint Edward HS.) lofted a sacrifice fly to right to score the winning run.
Pastor went 3-for-4 to lead the nine-hit attack in the nightcap while Stanley added two hits in addition to the game-winning sacrifice fly.
Zack Zsolcsak (Brownstown, Mich./Woodhaven H.S.) earned the win (1-1) with three innings of one-hit relief while Johnny Rohde suffered the loss, allowing the winning run in the seventh.
Lourdes (3-10) and Indiana Wesleyan (9-9) will continue their series on Tuesday with a single game. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at the Perfect Game Complex.
