Wolf Pack clinch third-straight 20-plus win season.
Looking to avenge a 5-4 loss from earlier this season, the Loyola University New Orleans Baseball team took the trip up to Baton Rouge on Tuesday to square off against NCAA Division I Southern University.
The Wolf Pack grabbed the commanding 7-1 lead after five innings but the Jaguars battled back to cut the deficit to just one, 7-6, in the bottom of the ninth. A.J. Smith (FR/Billings, Mt.) was able to manage the storm and force a groundout to give Loyola the slim 7-6 victory.
Following Tuesday's action, Loyola jumps to 20-28 overall to clinch its third-straight 20-plus win season.
This was the final non-conference game for the Wolf Pack of the season, as they the end the regular season with series against No. 8 Auburn University Montgomery and No. 22 William Carey University.
Jordan Wilson (SO/San Francisco, Ca. ) led Loyola with two RBI, while Ben Condara (SO/Houston, Tx.) added a team-high three hits and two runs in the win. In the third spot, Luis Anguizola (JR/David, Chiriqui, Panama) blasted his team-best eighth home run of the season to go along with one hit, two runs and a game-high eight putouts.
Dylan Gregoire (SR/Baton Rouge, La.) (1-1) got his first win coming off of injury, allowing no runs on two hits with no walks in two innings pitched. The Wolf Pack used a platoon strategy when it came to pitching against the Jaguars; sending out nine total pitchers in the win.
Following a scoreless first, Loyola got on the board after Wilson doubled in Condara from first to put the visitors up 1-0.
Neither team was able to manufacture any runs in the third, before the Wolf Pack opened the game wide open in the fourth.
Anguizola led off the inning with a homer which sparked the Loyola offense to a four-run third to grab the 5-0 advantage.
Holding the 5-0 lead in the fifth, Anguizola crossed the plate on a walk before a sacrifice fly by Britt Pellegrin (JR/Bourg, La.) extended the Wolf Pack cushion to 7-1.
With Loyola leading 7-2 in the ninth, Southern managed to tack on four runs in the bottom of the inning but the Wolf Pack were able to hold on for the 7-6 victory.
Loyola will take on No. 8 Auburn University Montgomery in a three-game home series starting on Friday, April 22, starting at 6:00 p.m.
