DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Lourdes softball team (5-8, 2-2 in WHAC) lost both road games to the Defiance Yellow Jackets (8-12, 3-1 in WHAC) on Wednesday afternoon; dropping the first game 1-2 and the second game 5-7.

Lourdes and Defiance have switched spots in the conference standings after the doubleheader with the Yellow Jackets rising to second place and the Gray Wolves falling to eighth.

Both games were extremely close with Lourdes' defense shining throughout. Defiance won both by coming up with a few more timely hits in the later innings than Lourdes. Overall, the games seemed really evenly matched and should be a fun contest if the pair match up in the WHAC tournament.

Game 1: L, 1-2 (F/8)
Lourdes lost the first game in extra innings in a grueling pitchers duel. The Gray Wolves' starter, Mallori Bradley, threw 7.1 innings with one earned run, nine hits allowed and five strikeouts, in only 99 pitches. On the other side, Defiance's Madelyn Hopper threw all eight innings with four hits allowed, zero earned runs, and three strikeouts, in just 89 pitches.

Leading the way for Lourdes' offense was sophomore utility player Ava Auler. The Carlson High School graduate went 2-for-4 in the game from the No. 2 spot in the lineup.

After each team went the first three innings scoreless, Defiance struck first in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly by Allison Stinson. The sac fly came as a result of a Skylar Mitchell error in leftfield that allowed the leadoff hitter's double to extend to third base.

The Defiance player who hit the double, Catherine Trebley, made a throwing error of her own in the top of the seventh inning to allow Liv Hickman to reach first base. The error rejuvenated the Gray Wolves' offense as they were still down 0-1 in the last inning.

Ryleigh Mercer pinch ran for Hickman and stole second base on the following pitch to get into scoring position. Lindsey McGann came up clutch with a hit that moved herself and Mercer into further scoring position. Lourdes had runners on second and third with no outs and Karlei Conard up to the plate.

Conard, who pinch-hit for Olivia Rompf, hit a sacrifice fly that scored Mercer and advanced to McGann to third base. Maddie Darrah attempted to do the same in the next at-bat as she flew out to right field. However, McGann was thrown out trying to tag and score by Defiance's Emma Lin, keeping the game tied at one apiece heading into the bottom half of the seventh.

Bradley collected herself after the offense's up-and-down top of the seventh, getting three out of four Defiance batters out in the bottom half of the inning. The game was sent to extras with the undefeated conference record on the line.

Robyn Ryan, Cami Heath and Ava Auler each got out in the top of the eighth as the momentum flipped back to Defiance. The Yellow Jackets ended up walking it off in the bottom of the eighth with an Allison Stinson RBI single to left field. One-third of all the Defiance hits in the game came in the final frame as Stinson ultimately stole the win with all the run production for her team.

Game 2: L, 5-7
The second game was another heartbreaker as the lead flipped back-and-forth throughout. Sophomore Cassi Kieper got the start for Lourdes on the mound. Fresh off her 112-pitch complete game win over Cleary, Kieper attempted to do the same to Defiance.

Kieper got through the first inning unscathed but ran into some power-hitting Defiance bats in the second. Madelyn Hopper and Ciara Blankenship hit back-to-back doubles to score three runs and chase Kieper out of the game with two outs in the inning. Freshman Zoe Ziems came in to limit the damage, getting the final out on a flyout. Defiance carried their 3-0 lead into the third inning with all the momentum.

However, Lourdes wasn't going down without a fight. The Gray Wolves put up three runs of their own in the top of the third. Taylor Leggins and Karlei Conard each got RBI singles and Liv Hickman had another sacrifice fly. Defiance's starter, Taighen Zipfel, was taken out after the inning with the score tied at three. Ziems shut down the Yellow Jackets in the third to keep the game tied.

The Yellow Jackets put in Devyn Hamilton to pitch in the fourth and she was immediately met with more Lourdes base runners. Lindsey McGann started off the inning reaching base on an error and ultimately got into scoring position on a wild pitch. Olivia Rompf then singled to put runners on the corners with one out. She later stole second base to put two runners in scoring position. After a Cami Heath strikeout made it two outs, Ava Auler roped a double to score Rompf and McGann and give Lourdes a 5-3 lead.

Defiance started connecting with Ziems' pitching in the bottom of the fourth after four straight singles cut the Lourdes lead to one run. Consistent relief pitcher Berlynn Keller came in to hold the lead by getting a few popups to end the inning.

Lourdes was hanging on by a run heading into the bottom of the fifth, but Defiance's lineup proved too deep. Keller got the first batter of the inning to strikeout and the next batter to ground out. However, with two outs, the next six batters all got on via singles and walks. The stretch ended up scoring three runs and giving the Yellow Jackets a 7-5 lead.

Devyn Hamilton locked in during the sixth and seventh innings and got five of the last eight Lourdes batters out as Defiance won the game by two runs.

Stats
Ava Auler led the offense with multiple hits in both games and a pair of RBI's. Karlei Conard and Liv Hickman also had a pair of RBI's in the afternoon. Olivia Rompf had a great second game, going three-for-three with two runs scored.

The defense also played strong throughout the afternoon with one error total. Lourdes' defense is by far the best statistical defense in the conference with only 10 errors on the season and a league-best .968 team fielding percentage.

Defiance's biggest advantage in the doubleheader was timely hitting towards the end of games with almost half of their runs being scored in the fifth inning or later.

Next Up
Lourdes will look to bounce back with four conference games at home this weekend. The Gray Wolves play Rochester Christian on Saturday, March 28 at 1pm and 3pm and then take on Lawrence Tech on Sunday, March 29 at 1pm and 3pm. The LTU doubleheader is senior night for the team.