Lourdes combined for 16 runs and 24 hits over two games on Wednesday, but came up just short in each contest, dropping a doubleheader to Taylor 10-8 and 11-8 at Mercy Field in the final two non-conference games of the season.
 
"I was proud of the way we kept battling with our offense," head coach Jeremy Snow said afterwards.  "Taylor has a strong offense and can put up runs in a hurry.  We stayed with them and just ran out of time."
 
Taylor started quickly in the opener, building a 5-1 lead after an inning and a half after plating three runs in the first and two more in the second on a pair of solo home runs.
 
After Glen Crabtree (Medina, Ohio/Black River H.S.) singled home a run in the first, Lourdes scored five times in the second to take a 6-5 advantage.  Jay Denman (Toledo, Ohio/Saint Francis de Sales H.S.) walked with the bases loaded before a wild pitch made it 5-3 Trojans.  Dallas Riggs (Prescott, Ariz./Paradise Valley H.S.) tied the game with a two-run double before Cameron Gallo (Mason, Ohio/Bishop Fenwick H.S.) followed with a two-bagger of his own to put the Gray Wolves in front.
 
A RBI single by Devin Stanley (Euclid, Ohio/Saint Edward H.S.) in the third and a home run by Crabtree in the fourth increased the lead to 8-5.
 
The Trojans pulled within one on a two-run homer in the fifth and took the lead with three more runs in the sixth, including their fourth home run of the contest.  Lourdes was unable to rally over the final two frames.
 
Mike Vomastek (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson H.S.) had three hits in the opener as Lourdes pounded out 12 for the game.
 
Rob Fox earned the win (2-1) in relief for Taylor, tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball while Logan Rodgers pitched the seventh for the save.  Zach Brown (Oregon, Ohio/Clay H.S.) took the loss (0-3) allowing three runs in the sixth inning.
 
Taylor (31-18) again took the lead in the opening of game two, scoring a single run, before Lourdes answered in the bottom of the frame.  Crabtree and Brown each had a RBI single giving the Gray Wolves a 2-1 advantage.
 
Riggs doubled home a run in the second before scoring on a Gallo single as Lourdes increased the lead to 4-1.
 
The Trojans sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth, homering three times in the frame, and took the lead for good with nine runs to build a 10-4 advantage.
 
Riggs had a sacrifice fly and Gallo added a run-scoring hit in the bottom of the fourth to pull back to within four.  After Taylor added an insurance run in the top of the sixth, Lourdes plated its final two runs in the bottom of the inning, one on a throwing error and another on a sacrifice fly by Gallo for his third RBI of the game.
 
Kyle Sherman (Collierville, Tenn./Rossville Christian Academy) led Lourdes with three of the team's 12 hits in game two while Andrew Kennedy had three hits and five RBI for the Trojans.
 
Colin Eggleson earned the win (4-0) in relief for Taylor while Jeremy Zsolcsak (Brownstown, Mich./Roosevelt H.S.) suffered the loss (1-3).
 
Lourdes (8-33) will close out the road portion of the 2017 schedule this weekend with a three-game series at Rochester (Mich.).  The series opens on Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest at Bill Shinsky Field in Rochester Hills, Mich.