Lourdes picked up a key road split in the quest for a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament berth on Thursday afternoon, defeating Indiana Tech 15-11 in nine innings in the opener before falling 15-8 in game two at Warrior Baseball Field in Fort Wayne, Ind.
 
The Gray Wolves overcame 17 walks from their hurlers in the opener, taking advantage of 11 free passes of their own from Indiana Tech pitchers along with five Warrior miscues to win in extra innings.
 
Trailing 1-0 after one in game one, the Gray Wolves plated seven runs in the second inning, four of which were unearned.  Alex Dupree (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview H.S.) put Lourdes in front with a two-run single while Joel Suraganan (Pickerington, Ont./Dunbarton H.S.) added a two-run double.  Nick DiGennaro (Oakville, Ont./St. Ignatius of Loyola) then capped the inning with a three-run home run.
 
An RBI single by Skylar Mays (Oregon, Ohio/Clay H.S.) and a run-scoring double by Dupree in the third pushed the Lourdes advantage to 9-1.
 
Indiana Tech scored two in the fourth and one in the fifth while the Gray Wolves tacked on unearned runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to carry an 11-4 lead into the bottom of the sixth.  The Warriors sent 11 batters to the plate in the frame, taking advantage of five walks and an error to score seven times, tying the game at 11 and forcing extra innings.
 
After neither team scored in the eighth, Lourdes plated four in the ninth, taking the lead on an error before A.J. Brinson (Bloomington, Ind./South H.S.) hit a three-run home run to give the Gray Wolves the win.
 
Indiana Tech (20-21, 17-7 WHAC) pushed across four runs in the opening inning of game two before the Gray Wolves tied the game in the second on a grand slam by Andrew Arntson (Luckey, Ohio/Eastwood H.S.).  The Warriors retook the lead with four more runs in the bottom of the second, only to see Suraganan hit a three-run blast in the top of the third to pull the Gray Wolves within one.
 
Another four-run frame in the third gave Indiana Tech a 12-7 lead until DiGennaro hit his second home run of the day, a solo shot, as part of a three-hit game in the fifth for the Gray Wolves' final run.  The Warriors tacked on three more in the sixth to earn the split.
 
Lourdes (9-27, 8-16) returns home to Mercy Field this weekend for a four-game series against Lawrence Tech.  Saturday's doubleheader begins at 11 a.m.