Travis Keys LU 0320
6
Winner Aquinas AQUINAS 9-8, 1-0 WHAC
0
Lourdes LOURDES 7-8, 0-1 WHAC
Winner
Aquinas AQUINAS
9-8, 1-0 WHAC
6
Final
0
Lourdes LOURDES
7-8, 0-1 WHAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Aquinas AQUINAS 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 2 6 12 1
Lourdes LOURDES 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2

W: Keys, Travis (2-0) L: Kolby Rogge (2-2)

5
Aquinas AQUINAS 10-8, 1-1 WHAC
6
Winner Lourdes LOURDES 8-8, 1-1 WHAC
Aquinas AQUINAS
10-8, 1-1 WHAC
5
Final
6
Lourdes LOURDES
8-8, 1-1 WHAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Aquinas AQUINAS 0 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 5 10 1
Lourdes LOURDES 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 10 1

W: Jagger Geck (2-1) L: Steffan, Richard (1-2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | DJ Foster, Director of External Relations & Athletic Communications 

Saints Split WHAC Opening Twinbill at Lourdes

AQ blanks Gray Wolves in opener (6-0) before falling on walk-off in game two

The Aquinas baseball team received a terrific pitching performance in its WHAC opener on Saturday afternoon (Mar. 20) in Toledo, Ohio against Lourdes, but the Gray Wolves used a walk-off single to split the series. AQ took game one by a 6-0 shutout victory, while Lourdes notched a 6-5 win in the nightcap.

With the split, Aquinas is 10-8 on the season and 1-1 in WHAC action, while Lourdes evens its record at 8-8 overall and 1-1 in league play. The teams will play again on Apr. 22 in Rockford during AQ's final regular season home games.

Junior lefthander Travis Keys was outstanding in the opening game. He tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and one walk. Keys tossed 105 pitches and struck out 11 Gray Wolves. Michael Casterline was not shabby either, not giving up a hit and walking one, while fanning four batters. The duo combined for two walks and 15 K's in the win, as Keys moves to 2-0 on the year.

The offense scored in four different innings, taking control in the fifth inning with RBI singles from Dane Smitz and Chris Suriel Garcia for a 4-0 lead. Nick Brzezinski smacked an RBI triple in the ninth and came in to score on a Sean Wing sacrifice bunt for the game's final run.

AQ outhit Lourdes by a 12-5 margin, as four Saints recorded two hits: Suriel Garcia, Nathan Hughes, Alec Lockwood, and Michael Maher. Suriel Garcia, Hughes, and Maher all doubled in the win, as six different AQ players scored a run.

There were some crooked numbers put on the board early in game two. Lourdes led 2-0 in the third inning, when Smitz's RBI single scored Wing to make it 2-1. Lockwood then delivered a two-run homer to left field for the 3-2 AQ lead. The Gray Wolves responded with their own two-run blast in the bottom of the third and led 5-3 heading into the fourth.

Aquinas tied the game with a Smitz sacrifice fly in the fifth and a Wing run-scoring single in the sixth to plate Maher, tying the score at 5-5. The game would stay tied until the ninth, when a two-out walk-off single to right field ended the game and split the series with the 6-5 Lourdes win.

Mason Hill started and threw 2.1 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on five hits. Colin Smith was great in relief, striking out seven batters in 3.2 scoreless innings, scattering three hits. Richard Steffan tossed the final 2.2 innings, allowing only the one run, but suffering the loss to fall to 1-2.

Both teams recorded 10 hits. Wing went 4-for-5 with four singles and Maher was 2-for-4 with a double. Brzezinski was 2-for-5, while Lockwood homered and drove in two runs. Smitz also collected a pair of RBI, while Hughes walked twice.

The Saints are back in action on Sunday (Mar. 24) in Adrian, when AQ takes on Siena Heights in a non-league doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m.

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