Wolf Pack close out the series with the Crusaders tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.
After seeing yesterday's game get postponed due to weather, the Loyola University New Orleans Baseball team embarked on Kirsch-Rooney Stadium on Friday for a crucial conference doubleheader against No. 19 William Carey University.
Entering today's twinbill, the Wolf Pack held just a half game lead over Blue Mountain College for the final spot in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Championship with only three games remaining for both programs.
The Wolf Pack split with the Crusaders on Friday night: dropping game one 6-1 before claiming the nightcap 7-5. The win, just the fifth over William Carey in program history, puts Loyola at 22-31 overall and 7-18 in the SSAC.
The Blue Mountain versus Martin Methodist game was suspended due to weather in the seventh, with the Rams trailing 8-1. If the RedHawks come out victorious in that game, Loyola will clinch a spot in the SSAC Championship for the first time ever.
Game One: Loyola 1 William Carey 6
Blake Toscano (JR/Metairie, La.) led the Loyola offense in game one with two hits, while Peyton Senner (JR/New Orleans, La.), Rawlings Elam (SO/Houston, Tx.) and Ben Condara (SO/Houston, Tx.) each added one in the loss.
Making his final regular season start in a Wolf Pack jersey, Kevin Lindsey (SR/Baton Rouge, La.) (6-6) got the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) on ten hits in 5.0 innings pitched.
Following a scoreless first, the Crusaders used two hits and two Loyola errors to tack on two runs and take the 2-0 lead.
Ben Condara led off the bottom of the second with a single. Following a fly out, Daniel Pappas (SR/Chicago, Ill.) was hit by a pitch to land two men on with one out. With two outs on the board, a wild pitch scored Condara from third to cut the Loyola deficit to 2-1.
With the score stuck at 2-1, the Crusaders opened the game up in the fifth by scoring three runs to stretch their advantage to 5-1.
William Carey manufactured one more run in the top of the sixth to bring the cushion to 6-1 entering the final frame.
Loyola managed to land two men on in the bottom of the seventh via walk, but both were stranded as the inning and the game ended on a strikeout.
Game Two: Loyola 7, William Carey 5
Luis Anguizola (JR/David, Chiriqui, Panama) and Jordan Wilson (SO/San Francisco, Ca. ) exploded in game two: with each tallying three RBI in the victory.
On the mound, Jason Roussel (SO/Baton Rouge, La.) (2-4) grabbed the win after giving up five runs (five earned) in 12 hits in seven innings pitched.
Roussel set the tone early by striking out two Crusader batters in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, Toscano led off with a walk to give Loyola its first baserunner of the game. Toscano then stole second and advanced to third after a bunt by Elam. Both runners would score, following Anguizola's first triple of the season, to give the Wolf Pack their first lead of the day at 2-0. Wilson then stepped to the plate and smacked a sacrifice fly to bring in Anguizola from third and put the home team up 3-0.
William Carey used two hits to put up a run in the top of the second to cut the deficit to 3-1.
With the score stuck at 3-1, the Crusaders tacked on three runs in the top of the third to grab their first lead of the game at 4-3.
Following a scoreless fourth, Loyola loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth and managed to score a run thanks to a sacrifice fly by Wilson to knot the game at 4-4.
A sacrifice fly in the fifth put the home team back on top 5-4 entering the sixth inning.
Both teams were able to manufacture a run in the seventh and Loyola took the 6-5 advantage in to the eighth.
With two men on and one out in the bottom of the eighth, Anguizola recorded his third RBI of the game to score pinch runner Charles Seiter to put the Wolf Pack up 7-5 heading in to the final frame.
With AJ Smith on the mound for Loyola, William Carey was only able to record one hit in the top of the ninth to give the Wolf Pack the huge 7-5 upset victory.
Loyola and William Carey will wrap up their three-game seriestomorrow, April 30, with a single game at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium set to start at 7:00 p.m.
