The Lourdes baseball team began Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader split against Cornerstone at Mercy Field.
 
"I'm really proud of the way our guys fought back in the second game," stated head coach Jeremy Snow following the twinbill. "We easily could have packed it up and gave in, but we didn't do that. I think that really shows the maturity and competitiveness of this team."
 
Cornerstone (8-13, 1-1 WHAC) took control of game one over the course of the first three innings, taking a commanding 6-0 lead.
 
Lourdes threatened on multiple occasions but was unable to get a run to score. The Golden Eagles added one more in the sixth inning before tacking on its final three runs in the top of the eighth to put Lourdes away.
 
Michael Davis (Whittier, Cal./California) led the way for Lourdes in game one, going 2-of-4 at the plate.
 
After he made a spectacular catch in center field to shut down the Cornerstone offense in the top of the second inning, Brad Ammons (Holland, Ohio/Springfield) hit a leadoff triple in the bottom half of the inning. On the ensuing at bat, Noah Childress (Toledo, Ohio/Start) singled into left field to plate the run and give Lourdes an early 1-0 lead.
 
In the bottom half of the fourth inning, Childress got on base with a single to left field before getting in scoring position as Sedrick Gonzalez (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) was walked on the ensuing at bat.
 
With two runners on, Jay Denman (Toledo, Ohio/Saint Francis de Sales) hit a double down the left field line to plate Childress and push the Gray Wolf lead to 2-0 through four innings.
 
After a Cameron Gallo (Mason, Ohio/Bihsop Fenwick) walk and a sacrifice bunt from George Pastor (Walled Lake, Mich./Central) in the fifth inning got Gallo in scoring position, Kevin Suttles (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) hit an RBI double to the left field fence to help Lourdes extend its lead to 3-0.
 
The Golden Eagles would get one back in the top of the sixth inning, cutting the lead to 3-1.
 
Lourdes would ensure the victory in the bottom half of the eighth inning as Denman drew a bases loaded walk to push the lead to 4-1. Gallo plated another insurance run later in the inning as he hit a sacrifice fly to center field to extend the lead to 5-1.
 
Zach Brown (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) had a solid performance for the Gray Wolves, going 6.0 innings and fanning eight batters on his way to the victory on the mound.
 
Travis Thompson (South Euclid, Ohio/Brush) slammed the door for Lourdes in impressive fashion, earning his first career save on the mound with four strikeouts.
 
"I'm very happy with our pitching today," Snow continued. Braxton McKart (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) pitched very well, but just had some really unlucky things happen. Zach pitched a very good game two and Travis probably gave of our relief effort of the year. I'm proud of these guys."
 
Lourdes is back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. as it welcomes Lawrence Tech to Mercy Field for a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference doubleheader.