MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – The Lourdes baseball team (9-15, 3-5 in WHAC) lost two games to Mount Vernon Nazarene (MVNU) (15-10, 7-7 in CRL) on Tuesday afternoon on the road.

The Gray Wolves' losing streak has extended to four games after dropping the road trip's opener 3-9 and the second game 3-8. The Cougars have given the Gray Wolves trouble in recent years as the Crossroads League teams tend to play tough when Lourdes is on the road.

Game 1: L, 3-9
Carson Rogers was given the start for Lourdes in the first game in a "pitching by committee" type of day. The sophomore from Perrysburg, Ohio got through the first inning but gave up four runs on five hits in the frame. Zane Mullins came in for relief in the second inning and gave up the fifth run of the afternoon on a wild pitch.

Lourdes' offense was able to counteract this early MVNU onslaught with a three-run second inning to cut the Cougars' lead to two runs. Senior catcher Grant Craig hit a double to score Drake Sekinger and Andrew Arnston. The next batter, freshman second baseman Jace Bloomer, knocked in Craig with an RBI single.

The momentum seemed to be shifting towards Lourdes in the middle innings as Mullins shutdown the Cougars in the third inning. Then, Noah Maniaci and Adam Lemon each threw scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth.

Despite Lourdes' pitching staff holding MNVU at bay, Lourdes' offense couldn't score any more runs in the game. MVNU relievers' Grant Peters and Austin Fox held Lourdes to two hits in the final five innings and struck out seven Gray Wolves batters.

The bottom of the sixth inning exploded the lead for MVNU as Brady Lester and Kaid Carpenter each hit two-run homeruns off of Lourdes' relief pitcher Will Brose. The lead was extended to 9-3 and Lourdes' hitters went down one-two-three in the seventh inning.

Game 2: L, 3-8
With the exception of Alex Dupree, the entire Lourdes starting lineup was changed in the second game. The new-look Gray Wolves started off the game hot with plenty of base runners in the first inning. Freshman outfielder Brad Hughes and junior first baseman Alex Dupree each got on base via singles. An error by the Cougars pitcher and a stolen base put both runners in scoring position. Then, a wild pitch scored Hughes from third base to give Lourdes an early 1-0 lead.

With bases loaded and no outs the inning was primed to be a catalyst for the offense. However, the next three batters all got out and MVNU escaped the inning down only 0-1.

Nathan Ball got his first start of the season for Lourdes and gave up a run off of a couple singles and a walk in the first inning. Ball got out of a jam in the second to end his start with two innings pitched, one run allowed, and four hits allowed.

Ball got some run insurance in the top of the second. Zane Mullins got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and then Nevan Anderer hit a hard single. Later in the inning, Landen Vance, normally a starting pitcher for Lourdes, scored Mullins on a sacrifice fly. The run was his third RBI of his Lourdes career. Up next after Vance, Will Brose roped a single into rightfield to score Anderer and put Lourdes up 3-1.

MVNU immediately tied the game at three apiece in the bottom of the third inning off of a single and sacrifice fly combination of their own. After a few walks, Lourdes pitcher Joe Smith was relieved by Ryan DeShetler who got the Gray Wolves out of the jam with a three pitch strikeout.

DeShetler threw another clean fourth inning as the game remained tied heading into the fifth. Lourdes went down in three batters in the top of the fifth but MVNU didn't go quietly in the bottom half. DeShetler gave up two runs on four hits and three walks before exiting the game with bases loaded, two outs, and a 3-5 deficit.

Ryan Ragusa came in the game for Lourdes to try and get out of the jam. However, MVNU's shortstop Rider Minnick hit a first-pitch bases clearing double to extend the Cougars' lead to the final score of 8-3.

Stats
Overall, the biggest statistical problems in the loss were the disparities in offenses and the Lourdes pitching staff's walk rate. Offensively, the Gray Wolves had five hits in each game. On the other hand, MVNU had over 20 hits combined in the two games. Pitching-wise, Lourdes threw 12 walks in the two games combined. The biggest statistical improvement between the MVNU series and Madonna's was the defense. Lourdes had one error in the first game and none in the second.

MVNU's No.4, No.5, and No.6 hitters combined to bat 14-for-23 (.609) with six RBI's and seven runs scored in the two games. Willoughby, Carpenter, and Schreck were a dangerous trio for the Cougars all afternoon. On the Lourdes side, Alex Dupree led the offense with a pair of hits and a walk. The first baseman has improved his team-leading .397 batting average and third -best .455 on base percentage.
 
Next Up
Lourdes will look to bounce back with a four-game road series against Cornerstone on March 27 and March 28. Both doubleheaders will start at 1pm.