HOWELL, Mich. (LourdesAthletics.com) – The Lourdes University baseball team put together a pair of solid efforts on Saturday afternoon, sweeping a Wolverne-Hoosier Athletic Conference doubleheader at Cleary University by scores of 6-4 and 6-5 at Lake Trust Stadium. The Gray Wolves out-hit the Cougars 22-18 on the day and used timely offense and strong bullpen performances to secure the two wins.
Game One: Lourdes 6, Cleary 4
Lourdes jumped on the board early in the opener with a three-run second inning.
Zane Mullins scored on a triple by
Jase Kennedy, who came home one batter later when
Caleb Edwards-Dugan ripped a triple of his own to right.
Skylar Mays added an RBI groundout to cap the inning and make it 3-0.
Cleary rallied in the fourth to tie the game, taking advantage of an RBI single, a sacrifice bunt, and a wild pitch. The Gray Wolves responded immediately in the fifth as Alex Dupree blasted a solo home run to right center, giving Lourdes a 4-3 lead.
The Cougars tied it again in the seventh with an unearned run, but Lourdes came through in the clutch in the top of the eighth. With two outs, Edwards-Dugan came up big again, roping a two-run double to center to score Dupree and Joel Suraganan and put Lourdes back in front.
Brenden Holland shut the door in the final two innings, allowing just two hits while striking out a pair to earn his first win of the season in relief. Edwards-Dugan finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and two extra-base hits, while Dupree went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a homer.
Game Two: Lourdes 6, Cleary 5
Alex Dupree drove in the game's opening run in the top of the first with a single, but the Cougars answered with four runs in the home half—including back-to-back triples.
Lourdes quickly regrouped in the third. Andrew Arntson's ground-rule double plated Joel Suraganan, and RBI from Jase Kennedy and Caleb Edwards-Dugan tied the game 4-4.
Edwards-Dugan continued to produce at the plate, giving Lourdes a 5-4 lead in the fifth with a fielder's choice RBI and adding what proved to be the game-winning run in the eighth with an RBI double down the right field line.
Cleary scratched across one more run in the seventh, but Riley McKinnon came on in relief and shut the door in the eighth to earn his first save of the year.
Caleb Loboschefski picked up the win (3-3), tossing seven innings and allowing five earned runs on 10 hits while striking out four. Offensively, Dupree scored twice and had two hits, while Arntson and Edwards-Dugan each drove in multiple runs.
Lourdes finished the nightcap with 11 hits and turned a key double play defensively to help preserve the lead.
Up Next:
Lourdes returns to action on Wednesday, April 23, with a WHAC doubleheader at Siena Heights. First pitch in Adrian, Mich. is set for 3 p.m., with game two to follow at approximately 5 p.m.
