Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Baseball: The 2024 regular season comes to a close this weekend for Lourdes University as the Gray Wolves seek a spot in the upcoming Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament.  Lourdes travels to face Michigan-Dearborn in a four-game series with doubleheaders set for both Saturday and Sunday.

Head Coach Josh Bradford: In his fifth season in the Lourdes dugout, Josh Bradford has a 81-111 (.422) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves, as well as in his career as a collegiate head coach.  He is the third head coach in Lourdes program's history.

Probable Starters: Brenden Holland (LHP, 1-6, 8.29) and Caleb Loboschefski (RHP, 3-2, 2.89) are slated to start the two games on Saturday for the Gray Wolves against Michigan-Dearborn.  On Sunday, Wyatt Smith (RHP, 2-5, 9.00) will pitch for Lourdes in game one to wrap up the series with the Wolverines while the game two starter has yet to be determined. 

Series Notes: Lourdes holds an 8-3 all-time advantage against Michigan-Dearborn in a series that dates back to Sept. 23, 2017.  Last season the two teams split a doubleheader at Mercy Field, with the Gray Wolves taking the opener 5-3 while the Wolverines won game two 6-4.  All 11 previous games in the series have been played at Mercy Field.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes split a doubleheader on the road at Indiana Tech last Tuesday (April 18), wining the opener 15-11 in nine innings before dropping game two 15-8.  A.J. Brinson and Nick DiGennaro both homered in the win as the Gray Wolves scored four in the ninth after the Warriors tied the game at 11 with seven runs in the bottom of the sixth.  In game two, Indiana Tech plated four runs in each of the first three innings.  Andrew Arntson hit a grand slam for the Gray Wolves.  On Saturday, Lawrence Tech swept a twinbill from Lourdes 9-1 and 7-5.  Lourdes managed just four hits in the opener while Caleb Edwards-Dugan drove home two in the nightcap.  The Gray Wolves flipped the result on Sunday, sweeping a doubleheader from the Blue Devils 7-6 and 3-2.  Arntson homered in the opener while DiGennaro went deep in game two.  Wyatt Smith and Bryn Biemiller earned the victories on the hill. 

Scouting Michigan-Dearborn: The Wolverines enter the series having lost four straight after being swept at Siena Heights last weekend.  Max McLennan leads the team offensively batting .355 with four home runs and 22  runs batted in.  Matthew Williams has a team-high 27 RBI and is hitting .321 while Gavin Hampton has homered six times.  Luis Gallardo leads the pitching staff with a 2-3 record and an 8.84 ERA while striking out 32 in 38.2 innings of work.

Looking for a WHAC Tournament Bid: With four games remaining in the regular season, Lourdes remains in the hunt for a berth in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament.  The Gray Wolves enter the week three games in back of Siena Heights for the eighth and final qualifying spot, but have the tie-breaker over the Saints by virtue of sweeping the conference series.  Lourdes needs to finish with three more wins this weekend that Siena Heights earns against Lawrence Tech and that Cleary captures against Northwestern Ohio.  Lourdes made its only previous WHAC tournament appearance in 2018.

Streaking: Joel Suraganan enters the final weekend of the season on a 10-game hitting streak.  The senior shortstop has reached base safely in each of his last 15 games.  He now has 14 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games this season and has raised his average up to .303.  Suraganan leads the team with 26 RBI and is tied with Nick DiGennaro for the top spot with five home runs.

Getting on Base: Gray Harmer did not see his first action of the season until March 16, but now enters the week having reached base safely in his all 15 games in which he has appeared this season.  The freshman has posted a .439 on base percentage and is batting .319 (15-for-47) while drawing nine walks.
 
Leading the Pitching Staff: Caleb Loboschefski has paced the pitching staff over his eight appearances this season.  He is 3-2 with a team-best 2.89 earned run average in 43.2 innings of work, making seven starts.  The redshirt-sophomore has tossed two complete games and opponents are batting just .238 against Loboschefski this season.

Throwing Out Base Stealers: Andrew Arntson threw out a pair of would-be base stealers in game one of Saturday's doubleheader and has now gunned down four of 16 attempted runners this year.  Gray Harmer also threw out a runner during game two of the twinbill.

Playing Defense: Skylar Mays has not committed an error defensively in the outfield in 42 chances this season.  He has a pair of outfield assists as well.  Andrew Arntson has also been error free this season with 76 total chances in the field.  

This and That: Only Alex Dupree and Joel Suraganan have started all 40 games for Lourdes this season ... A.J. Brinson is the only other Gray Wolf to appear in all 40 games ... Joel Suraganan leads the team with four home runs and 19 runs batted in this season ... Lourdes has turned 25 double plays as a team defensively while hitting into just 10 this year.