Viera, Fla. – The Lourdes softball team (1-2, 0-0 in WHAC) won their first game of the season via walk-off fashion against the Saint Mary-of-the Woods Pomeroys (0-3, 0-0 in RSC) early Monday evening.

Lourdes won the contest 5-4 to open up the weeklong Space Coast spring break tournament at the Space Coast Complex in Viera, Florida. The Gray Wolves will play six more games over the next three days in the tournament, against teams from all over the country.

Although timely hitting played a big role in Lourdes' victory, sophomore pitcher Cassi Kieper was also a big factor in the win for the Gray Wolves. The Siena Heights transfer threw a remarkable 123-pitch complete game, with 11 strikeouts and only one walk. The multi-sport athlete was also a star bowler for Lourdes this year. She is leading all starters in E.R.A and strikeouts thus far in the season.

Kieper's dominance held SMWC to two runs through the first six innings. On the offensive side, Lourdes gained the lead in the fourth inning when shortstop Lindsey McGann hit a two-run single. The Gray Wolves extended the lead later in the inning when rightfielder Ava Auler scored McGann on an RBI single.

Lourdes was still up 4-2 heading into the final inning when chaos began to ensue. The Pomeroys loaded the bases up to start the inning with no outs recorded. Kieper then struckout the bottom hitter to get the first out of the inning.

However, when the lineup flipped over, Kyar McVey hit a two-run single to tie the game for the Pomeroys. McVey was potent for the Pomeroys in the game, going three-for-four with three RBI's. Lourdes was in danger of losing their hard-fought lead as SMWC had runners on second and third with still only one out. However, Kieper dug deep and struckout the No. 2 hitter and then got the No. 3 hitter to pop out to end the frame with the game still tied.   

Ava Auler started the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff double. Taylor Leggins grounded out to third, but the ball was hit shallow enough that Auler easily moved into scoring position at third base. Then, on a 1-1 count, Olivia Hickman roped a single to score Auler for the walk-off winner, giving Lourdes their first victory of the young season.

Stats
Ava Auler hit three-for-four with an RBI in the game. The sophomore outfielder from Woodhaven, Michigan is leading the team with a .400 average on the season. Defensively, Lourdes had two untimely errors that put the game a little closer than it probably should have been.

Next Up
Lourdes will look to continue their Space Coast success against the University of Fort Lauderdale tonight at 7pm.