Coming off a split against the College of Saint Joseph at home on Wednesday , the Loyola University New Orleans Baseball team returned to Segnette Field on Friday evening to take on Dallas Christian College in game one of a three-game series.
The Wolf Pack jumped out to an early 6-0 lead but the visitors battled back to cut the advantage to just 6-5 heading in to the eighth inning. Loyola managed to score one more run in the bottom of the eighth to seal the 7-5 victory at home.
With the win, Loyola improves to 6-5 on the year heading in to the doubleheader with the Crusaders tomorrow afternoon.
Alexander Lorenzo and Jr. OF Luis Anguizola (Miami, Fla./Belen Jesuit Prep) both notched two RBI, with Anguizola also collecting a homer and scoring two runs in the victory. Sr. C Daniel Pappas (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) chipped in with two hits, while R-JR SS Blake Toscano (Metairie, La./Holy Cross) added two hits and a RBI on Friday.
Sr. RHP Kevin Lindsey (Baton Rouge, La./Catholic) (3-1) earned the victory after allowing no runs on three hits with six strikeouts in five innings pitched.
Lindsey set the tone early, striking out two in the first inning to keep the Crusaders off the board. With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Jordan Wilson drew a walk to land Loyola's first baserunner of the evening. Anguizola stepped in the box next and blasted his first home run of the season over the left field wall to score Wilson and put the Wolf Pack up 2-0.
The Crusaders threatened in the top of the third but Lindsey notched another strikeout with one on and two outs to maintain Loyola's 2-0 advantage.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the third, So. IF Ben Condara (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas) singled to the third baseman to put Loyola up 3-0. Lorenzo followed with a ringing double to center field to stretch the Wolf Pack cushion to 5-0 heading in to the top of the fourth inning.
Toscano tacked one more run on the board in the bottom of the fourth, scoring pinch runner Fr. OF Charles Seiter (Mobile, Ala./Mcgill-Tooled Catholic High School) from third to put the home team up 6-0 after four innings.
Down 6-0 in the top of the eighth, the Crusaders responded with five runs to cut the Loyola deficit to just one at 6-5 heading in to the home half of the eighth.
With Dallas Christian cutting the deficit to just one, Daniel Pappas knocked in Lorenzo to bring the score to 7-5 with just one more inning remaining.
With Jr. RHP Nick Moore (Mobile, Ala./Mcgill-Tooled Catholic High School) on the mound, the Wolf Pack closed out the Crusaders in the ninth to earn the 7-5 victory and give Moore his first save of the season.
Loyola return to Segnette Field tomorrow, Feb. 20, to end the series against the Crusaders with a doubleheader set to start at 1:00 p.m.
