TOLEDO, Ohio – The Lourdes baseball team (11-21, 5-11 in WHAC) lost both games of a Monday doubleheader to Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) (24-12, 14-2 in WHAC) at home at Mercy Health Field.

UNOH beat Lourdes 29-8 in the first game and 13-4 in the second game. Despite the lopsided scores, both games went the full distance they were allotted.

Lourdes' home record falls to 2-8 on the season and they've now lost five games in a row after splitting their last road series to Cornerstone. The Gray Wolves dropped from 9^th to a season-low 11^th place in the WHAC with the pair of losses. Meanwhile, UNOH remains two games above No. 22-ranked Indiana Tech for first place in the conference.

The good news for Lourdes is they'll have an opportunity to make up for the ground they've lost with matchups against 8^th-place Siena Heights and 10^th-place Defiance in the next couple of weeks.

Game #1: L, 8-29
Lourdes got off to a good start in game one after Drake Sekinger and Jace Bloomer each hit RBI singles in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

However, the Gray Wolves' hope ended there as the Racers took the lead in the second inning on a Zack Grigalis RBI and never looked back. UNOH scored 13 runs in their massive second inning alone. Lourdes' starting pitcher, Landen Vance, managed to get one out in the second but was pulled after giving up seven runs.

Adam Lemon came in for Lourdes in relief and gave up the other six runs while getting the second out of the inning. Four of those runs came via a moonshot grand slam by UNOH's third baseman Fabian Romero. Noah Maniaci came in to get the last out of the inning for Lourdes.

UNOH scored six more runs in the third inning off of Maniaci and Carson Rogers to take a 19-3 lead into the fourth inning. Then, Lourdes freshman Wyatt Allen came in to pitch the fourth and gave up no runs. However, in the fifth inning he was responsible for six earned runs and another UNOH home run.

Will Brose, who started the game as the Lourdes designated hitter, finished the final three innings on the mound to give the Gray Wolves their longest outing of the game. Brose gave up seven hits and four runs but also had a team-high five strikeouts and just one walk.

Walks were crucial to UNOH's 29-run offensive explosion. The Lourdes pitching staff averaged two walks an inning and also hit eight batters, accounting for 22 free bases for the Racers.

Offensively, Lourdes put up eight runs in the game and hit solid throughout. Junior first baseman Alex Dupree led the team with three RBI's and a 2-for-5 day. Drake Sekinger also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two walks.

Game #2: L, 4-13
UNOH took the lead early again in the nightcap with a six-run second inning against Lourdes' starter Ayden Hall. A three-run homerun by catcher Cesar Grau broke the game open. Hall gave up nine runs on eight hits in his four-inning start. He led all Lourdes pitchers in the afternoon with six strikeouts.

Lourdes' reliever Joe Smith came in during the fifth inning and threw a scoreless frame to keep it a 9-0 UNOH lead. Jase Kennedy followed Smith up with a one-run sixth inning as UNOH went up double digits.

Down to their last out in the seventh inning, the Gray Wolves escaped a mercy with a two-RBI single by Jay Breed. An RBI single by Landon Brown cut the Racers' lead to six heading into the ninth. However, the comeback was too late as a couple of errors and hits off of Logan Moss sealed the 13-4 win for UNOH. Landon Brown led the offense for Lourdes in the second game with three hits and Jay Breed had two hits.

Next Up
Lourdes takes on NCAA D1 -  Mid-American Conference opponent Bowling Green on Wednesday, April 8 at 6pm on the road at newly renovated Steller Field.