Loyola will face No. 4-seed William Carey in an elimination game tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
The Loyola University New Orleans Baseball team headed to Paterson Field on Wednesday evening for the opening round of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Championship. This would be the first-ever appearance for the Wolf Pack in the championship and they were rewarded for their efforts with a first round matchup against the top-seeded Faulkner University.
These two teams met three times this season, with the Eagles sweeping the Wolf Pack at home thanks to a 31-4 runs advantage. All time, Loyola came in on Wednesday 1-17 against Faulkner with its last victory coming in 2014.
The Wolf Pack's struggles with the Eagles continued on Wednesday night as they fell 10-2 to No. 3 Faulkner in the opening game of the tournament.
Luis Anguizola (JR/David, Chiriqui, Panama) and Lance Licciardi (SR/River Ridge, La.) both collected two hits in the loss, with Licciardi adding the only two RBI for the Wolf Pack. With his two hits, Anguizola jumped to second on the single season program record list for hits in a year with 78.
Making his final start wearing the maroon and gold, Daniel Posway (SR/Sugarland, Texas) (3-8) got the loss after giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits in 4.2 innings pitched.
No. 8-seed Loyola was designated as the visitors, following a coin toss, so it had first ups at Paterson Field. The Wolf Pack went three up and three down in their first appearance at the plate and the score stayed 0-0 entering the home half of the inning.
The Eagles capitalized on two Loyola errors in the bottom of the first to put the first runs on the board to take the 1-0 advantage.
Loyola landed its first baserunner of the evening in the top of the second after Alexander Lorenzo (JR/Miami, Fla.) connected on a single. Lorenzo then stole second but he would be left stranded following a strikeout.
Faulkner managed to put up one more run in the bottom of the fourth to push the advantage to 2-0.
With the score stuck at 2-0 in the top of the fifth, the Wolf Pack used two walks and a single by Joseph Kuchler (SO/Metairie, La.) to load the bases with two outs. Loyola was once again unable to cash in on runners in scoring position and the score stayed at 2-0.
The Eagles used a one out homer in the bottom of the fifth to stretch the lead to 4-0 heading to the sixth inning.
Following a strikeout, Jordan Wilson (SO/San Francisco, Ca. ) reached first on an error. Ben Condara (SO/Houston, Tx.) followed with a single to advance Wilson and give Loyola two runners on with one out. Both runners would then advance after a wild pitch to give the Wolf Pack another scoring opportunity. Lance Licciardi capitalized on the opportunity with a deep double to center, scoring both runners, to bring the score to 4-2 in the top of the sixth.
The home team took the blow and quickly responded with a jab of its own, scoring another two runs in the bottom of the sixth to go up 6-2.
Following a brief down pour, the Eagles tacked on four runs in the bottom of the eighth to push the cushion to 10-2.
The Eagles were able to maintain the 10-2 lead in the ninth to grab the 10-2 victory in the opening round.
Loyola will face No. 4-seed William Carey University in an elimination game tomorrow, May 4, at 1:00 p.m.
