Grand Rapids, Mich. – The AQ baseball team played a pair of games against Lourdes yesterday (Apr. 14) on DeWitt Field. Aquinas got the best of Lourdes in game one, winning 14-6 in just seven innings. AQ then went on to beat Lourdes once more with a 9-5 scoreline, improving AQ's win streak to four games.

In between games, the Saints honored all 15 seniors on the 2024 baseball team for all of their hard work and dedication to the program. Nicolas Verdugo, Mark Binkowski, Cameron Greener, Ryan Gillings, Grant Martin, Zach Marshall, Nathan Wilcox, Luke LaCross, Chase Ingersoll, JD Gillies, Garrett Cheslek, Tyler Zomerlei, Tristan Hysell, Conor Gausselin, and Mason Hill were all honored and recognized during the ceremony.

Game 1: Aquinas 14, Lourdes 6 (7 Innings)

Lourdes started the game with a quartet of runs off of four hits to quickly put the Saints in a 4-0 hole. AQ pulled one run back in the bottom of the first after Ramsey Bousseau reached on an error and Ingersoll hit him home with a triple.

AQ recovered in the second and third frames, retiring the next six Lourdes batters in consecutive order. Aquinas leveled the score in the bottom of the third after Bousseau reached base after being hit by a pitch and Verdugo bunted for a single. The Gray Wolves collected a pair of outs, but one swing of the bat from Martin leveled the game at 4-4 with his fourth homer of the season.

Jack Crittendon continued to deal on the mound into the fourth inning, retiring the side once more including two strikeouts. The AQ offense capitalized on the strong pitching in the bottom of the fourth frame, blowing open the game with six runs.

The fourth started with walks from Wilcox and Bousseau, along with a single from LaCross to score Wilcox. Binkowski singled to score Bousseau and LaCross before Ingersoll singled himself to put two runners on base. Martin stepped into the box with the two runners on base and proceeded to crush his second three-run homer of the game to put AQ in the driver's seat. Following Martin's sixth RBI of the game, the Saints were ahead 10-4.

Once more, Crittendon held the Gray Wolves scoreless before Aquinas added another four runs. Hits from Verdugo and Binkowski, along with a sacrifice squeeze from Drew Mitchell gave the Saints a ten-run advantage.

Lourdes managed to bring two runs across the plate between the sixth and seventh innings, but they ultimately made little difference as AQ won 14-6 in seven innings.

Crittendon earned his first winning decision as a Saint after pitching six innings. He allowed six earned runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Kaleb Mitchelson pitched the seventh inning and allowed no runs with a strikeout.

Game 2: Aquinas 9, Lourdes 5

Sam Pollack started the game with a one-two-three inning before the Saints bats got rolling again. Bousseau walked and stole second before Binkowski hit him home to start the scoring. Ingersoll singled to hit Binkowski home and Martin singled before an error allowed Ingersoll to score and give AQ a 3-0 advantage.

Lourdes hit a leadoff home run in the top of the second to put LU on the scoreboard, but a series of Lourdes errors in the bottom of the third. AQ strung together four hits, but five Gray Wolves errors helped Aquinas score five runs in the inning to take an 8-1 lead. Bousseau and Gillies both picked up an RBI in the inning.

The Gray Wolves responded with a pair of runs in the fourth and a run in the fifth to cut the deficit to just 8-4. Another solo home run from LU cut the deficit to just three, but Mason Hill entered the game for a six-out save. He immediately struck out two and forced a groundout to get out of a two-runners-on jam.

Ingersoll and Martin hit consecutive doubles in the bottom of the eighth to bring in an insurance run, but Hill struck out the side in the ninth to end the game and earn his fifth save of the season.
Mark Kalahar was credited with his second win of the season with no hits allowed and a strikeout over one inning pitched after relieving Pollack in the fifth inning.

By the Numbers

The Saints outhit Lourdes 23-14 and outscored them 23-11. Martin had a monster day with five hits on nine at-bats, including two home runs and seven RBIs.

Ingersoll recorded four hits and Binkowski posted three, including five RBIs. Verdugo (2), Bousseau (2), Gillings (2), LaCross (2), Gillies (2), and Wilcox (1) all had at least one hit over the two games. The Aquinas seniors recorded 21 of the 23 hits.

Up Next

The Saints are currently playing Lawrence Tech and just beat them 13-6 in the first game. After today's doubleheader, the Saints will be back in action on Wednesday (Apr. 17) against Cornerstone.