The Lourdes university baseball team won its fourth and fifth games in the last six games on Sunday afternoon as it swept Michigan-Dearborn 6-5, 9-8 at Mercy Field.
 
"I'm incredibly proud of this team," said head coach Jeremy Snow following the sweep. "The level of resiliency and competitiveness on this team is outstanding. I really think Joey Oehlers had two outstanding games for us. He was outstanding offensively and defensively. Our starting pitchers were both great today and I'm proud of how they competed."
 
In the first contest of the afternoon, Brad Ammons (Holland, Ohio/Springfield) recorded a hit in his fourth straight game in the top of the first inning with an RBI single to score Cameron Gallo (Mason, Ohio/Bishop Fenwick), giving the Gray Wolves an early 1-0 lead.
 
Lourdes would add on to its lead in the top of the fifth inning as Noah Childress (Toledo, Ohio/Start) hit a solo homerun to push the lead 2-0.
 
Michigan-Dearborn (15-16-1, 8-4 WHAC) would answer and take the lead in the bottom half of the fifth frame with a four-run inning.
 
The lead didn't last long as back-to-back doubles from Ammons and Gallo plated a pair of runs in the sixth inning and a George Pastor (Walled Lake, Mich./Central) single in the seventh helped the Gray Wolves take a 5-4 lead.
 
The Wolverines tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, ultimately forcing extra innings. Braden Halford (Port Hope, Ont./Saint Mary's) made the most of his lone hit in the contest, laying down an RBI single to plate the game-winning run in the top of the 10^th inning.
 
Zach Brown (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) went 6.2 innings in the contest, waiving six batters. Travis Thompson (South Euclid, Ohio/Brush) would toss the final 3.1 innings, earning his first collegiate victory on the mound while striking out four batters.
 
Offensively, Ammons went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored to lead the Gray Wolves. Childress finished 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run for Lourdes.
 
In the second contest, Lourdes found itself playing from behind as the Wolverines jumped out to a 2-0 lead through two frames.
 
A Gallo single in the third inning plated a run for the Gray Wolves, cutting the lead to 2-1. Dearborn would answer back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings to push its lead to 4-1.
 
After Gallo hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth inning to cut the lead to 4-2, the Wolverines once again answered with a run in the fifth, regaining a three-run lead at 5-2.
 
A Halford RBI-double in the sixth inning was answered by a Wolverine homerun in the bottom half of the frame to move the score to 6-3.
 
The seventh inning would prove to be the turning point for Lourdes as Ammons and Halford each hit a two-RBI homerun in the inning, helping Lourdes get its first lead of the afternoon at 7-6.
 
The Gray Wolves added two more runs in the top half of the ninth inning, pushing the lead to 9-6. Michigan-Dearborn made one last effort with a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Gray Wolf defense was able to hold on to win game two 9-8.
 
Ammons finished 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBI and a pair of runs while Halford finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs.
 
Deion Kurtz (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria Catholic) picked up the victory on the mound for the Gray Wolves.
 
"I really respect Dearborn's program and what they have been able to do in these first couple of years," Snow continued. "They are a prime example of just how deep this conference is from top to bottom."
 
Lourdes is scheduled to host Point Park on Tuesday afternoon with the first pitch at 1 p.m. at Mercy Field.