WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's baseball team played at Tom Roy - UPI Park for the first time in 2025, hosting Mount Vernon in the first of two doubleheaders. The teams battled windy conditions throughout the day with MVNU taking both games 10-8 and 12-5.
Windy conditions made the diamond feel small with eight home runs leaving the ballpark in the opener and another five in the nightcap. MVNU accounted for eight, while the Lancers had five of their own.
Grace found itself down 10-1 heading into its half of the fourth inning after the Cougars scored in each of the first four innings. The home team began to chip away at the lead.
Ryan Stark, who already had an RBI double in the first, hit a leadoff long ball to left. The next two batters hit singles before
Keenan LeBlanc launched the second home run of the inning to make it 10-5.
In the next inning,
Grant Hartley worked a one-out walk which was followed by another Stark blast to get the Lancers within three.
Grace's best chance down the stretch came in the eighth when three singles loaded the bases with one out. A defensive miscue on
Jose Ayala's grounder allowed one run to score to make it 10-8. With the bases still loaded, the Lancers, however, were unable to find the game-tying play the rest of the way.
Stark had a day, going 4 for 4 with 2 homeruns, 4 RBIs, 2 runs and a walk. LeBlanc went 1 for 4 with 3 RBIs, 1 run and 1 walk.
Grace's pitching staff held the Cougars in check after the fourth inning, tossing five innings of scoreless relief.
The second game of the day had a similar start with the Cougars extending an early lead through its first four at bats. Grace once again used its half of the fourth to cut into the deficit. Stark belted another 2-run blast. Wild pitching and defensive miscues allowed the home team to load the bases with one out. A bases loaded walk brought home another run and an RBI groundout from
Maximo De Leon made it 9-4.
MVNU added three runs down the stretch to push the lead, while the Lancers added just one run over the final three innings. That run once again came off the bat of Stark with a solo shot.
Stark added a 2 for 4 game with three RBIs and two runs.
Grace will continue its four-game set with Mount Vernon on Saturday at Tom Roy - UPI Park starting at 10 a.m.
