Lourdes picked up its first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference victory of the season on Friday, splitting a doubleheader against Aquinas with a 13-10 win before dropping game two 7-4 at Cornerstone Softball Field in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
"This was a huge split for us," head coach Caitlin Blanchard said afterwards.  "Aquinas is a top team in the WHAC and days like today prove that we can compete with, and beat, any team in our conference.  It was definitely a breakthrough day for us offensively.  The bats were alive up and down the lineup."
 
Emily Wallace (Thornville, Ohio/Lakewood H.S.) tied the school's single game record with five hits in the opener, going 5-for-6 at the plate.  She homered and doubled while driving in four runs and scoring three times.  Annalisse Palma (Battle Creek, Mich./Lakeview H.S.) added three hits, including a two-bagger, and drove in a pair of runs while Megan Richardson (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon H.S.) went 3-for-3 with a double and three runs batted in.  Lindsey McGann (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson H.S.) had two hits, including a home run, and scored three times.
 
"Emily Wallace was on fire in game one and Lindsey McGann had a huge day, hitting multiple home runs," Blanchard added.
 
Lourdes took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the third when the Saints scored seven times to pull in front 8-4.  The Gray Wolves responded with four runs in the fourth, including a three-run homer by Wallace, and added five more in the fifth inning, batting around in both frames. 
 
The Gray Wolves fell behind 6-0 in game two after Aquinas (19-5, 1-1 WHAC) scored five times in the fourth inning.  Lourdes tried to battle back with a pair of runs in the fifth before McGann hit her second home run of the day in the sixth.  McGann also had a RBI single in the seventh, part of her three-hit game, but the comeback bid fell just short.
 
Olivia Hickman (Trenton, Mich./Trenton H.S.) also had a multi-hit effort in game two with a pair of hits, including a double.
 
Lourdes (7-17, 1-3) returns to Gray Wolf Field for the first time in a month on Saturday as the Gray Wolves host Northwestern Ohio in a doubleheader.  The first pitch in game one is set for 3 p.m.