Grace’s Jaron Mullet got things started off right, but the Lancers would fall in a twinbill against Lourdes. (File photo by Mike Deak)

WESTFIELD – Grace’s baseball team fell twice in the season opener against Lourdes on Wednesday.

The Lancers lost 4-3 and 8-4 in a neutral site at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., marking one of Grace’s first time outdoors after inclement weather.

David Anderson was sharp on the mound as the Lancers’ opening day starter. He struck out 13 Gray Wolves and allowed just six hits and two earned runs.

Grace was two outs away from winning the first game of the season. The Lancers scored in their first inning.

Jaron Mullett led off the season with a walk and a stolen base, and he reached third with a ground ball. A passed ball then allowed Mullett to scamper home for the first run of the season.

The next three innings went quickly as a pitchers’ duel ensued. No player managed to have a hit until the bottom of the fourth inning.

Lourdes tied the game in the fourth with a pair of doubles, and the Gray Wolves struck again in the sixth inning for a 2-1 lead.

With its back to the wall, Grace came up with a clutch seventh-inning push. Ethan Brooks and Jacob Sapp both reached base on a walk, but the Lancers had two runners still on base with two outs.

Anderson then stepped up and laced a two-run hit up the middle to put the Lancers ahead 3-2.

But Lourdes responded in the bottom of the seventh, plating twice to steal the win 4-3.

Anderson, in addition to his strong pitching performance, tallied Grace’s only hit of the first game. Chris Griffin walked twice, and Mullett reached base twice with a walk and a hit by pitch.

Grace’s offense was much more dynamic in the second game. The Lancers had eight hits, including three that went for extra bases.

Lourdes scored all eight of its runs over two innings. The Gray Wolves plated two runs to take an early lead in the first frame.

The Lancers tied the game in the fourth. Anderson and Xavier Harris singled, and Griffin drove in two runs with a two-out triple to right field.

The game was broke open in the fifth inning, however, when Lourdes scored six runs. All six of those runs came with two outs in the inning.

Grace managed to score two runs in the top of the seventh, but the rally came up short. Houston Haney had a two-out, two-run double to score Anderson and Hunter Ackerman.

Anderson finished 2-for-4 with two runs and a stolen base, and Harris batted 2-for-3.

Griffin and Haney both had a pair of RBIs, Sapp was 1-for-2, and RJ Snyder stole two bases.

The Lancers begin their spring break trip to Florida this week. Grace’s first games in Winter Haven, Fla., start Saturday against Cornerstone and Trinity Baptist.