TOLEDO, Ohio - The Lourdes baseball team (9-13, 3-5 in WHAC) lost to the Madonna Crusaders (22-7, 6-2 in WHAC) by a score of 13-3 in both games on Sunday afternoon at home at Mercy Health Field.

Madonna is receiving votes in the NAIA Rankings and by far have the best overall record in the conference. The Crusaders are a game back from Aquinas for first place in the WHAC. Meanwhile, the pair of losses drops Lourdes from fifth to eighth place in the league.

Game 1
In the opener, Gus Simon started off the scoring for Madonna off Lourdes' starter Landen Vance with an RBI double in the second inning. Lourdes tied the game at one apiece in the third inning with a Jase Kennedy RBI single.

The fourth inning gave Madonna some early separation as the Crusaders put up four runs off wild pitches, walks, and a big two-out single. Lourdes cut the lead to 5-2 after shortstop A.J Brinson knocked in a run off of a Carson Noon error.

Despite the lead being trimmed down, Madonna consistently connected with the ball off of relief pitchers' Ryan DeShetler and Noah Maniaci in the middle innings, scoring seven unanswered runs to take a 12-2 lead.

The two squads traded runs in the seventh as Madonna won the game by 10.

Game 2
In the second game, the Crusaders outhit the Gray Wolves 13-5, drew seven more walks, and had four less errors, ultimately leading to the defeat.

In the first inning, two poor throws near home plate, a few walks, and a couple of wild pitches, allowed two runs to score early for Madonna. Then, with two outs, the Crusaders' Gus Simon blasted a two-run home run to take an early 4-0 lead.

The Gray Wolves later fought back with their own home run in the bottom of the first inning. Andrew Arnston hit the homer, his team-leading fourth of the season. Arnston also now leads the team with 16 RBI's.

The homers kept coming in the second as Madonna's Jack Nilson hit a two-run shot to put the Crusaders' up 6-2. Then, Lourdes started the second inning off with A.J Brinson blasting another home run, giving the Gray Wolves their third and final run of the game.

The Crusaders only continued to extend their lead with multiple runs scored in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings, totaling up to 13.

Stats
Overall, Madonna had a 16-4 walk advantage in the doubleheader. The Crusaders also had a 2-6 error advantage. Both factors caused the power-hitting bats in the middle of the Madonna order to break the games open.  

Next Up
Lourdes takes on Mount Vernon Nazarene on Tuesday at 1pm for a non-conference away game doubleheader with a chance to bounce back from the losses.