Despite the game being shortened by rain to just five innings, the Wolf Pack bats remained hot, scoring 12 for the second-straight game
NEW ORLEANS - In a shortened game due to rain, the Loyola baseball team secured the series sweep over Rust College, claiming a 12-0 victory in five innings today at Segnette Field.
To lead off the game, Wolf Pack (3-0) starter Jason Roussel struck out the side, getting the Bearcats'' (0-3) Larry Kimber to watch strike three before causing Jordan Robinson and Nicholas Durrah to swing and miss. Roussel would end up tossing 3.1 innings of work today, keeping a clean sheet in the run column while fanning four.
In the bottom of the first, Nathan Law reached on a fielder's choice before stealing second base, his third of the season already. Picking up where he left off yesterday, Ben Condara slapped his third double of the season past the shortstop, brining Law across the plate for the Pack's first run of the game.
In the bottom of the third, Loyola sat at two outs with two on and no runs across for the inning, as Brandon Wilson Jr. stepped into the batters box. The sophomore ripped a ball into left field, bringing across both Law and Condara, followed by an Allen Dennis double to bring in Wilson. A base knock by Charlie Seiter brought in Dennis, with Gabriel Trastoy knocking in Seiter with a single of his own.
Not to be out done by their five-run third inning, the Loyola bats kept it rolling in the bottom of the fourth, bringing six more across the plate, highlighted by a Zachary Cook single that drove in two, and capped off by a bases-loaded double by Mick Dubic that brought in all three.
After the top of the fifth inning concluded, the game was called due to rain, bringing the final score to 12-0 Loyola, their second victory by the same margin in the series.
The Wolf Pack will hit the road this week and play a doubleheader with Louisiana State University - Alexandria on Tuesday, February 6th beginning at 3 p.m., before returning to Segnette Field for a three game series with Lindenwood University on Friday and Saturday.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Doug Faust
"It's always good to get a sweep, the pitchers threw well again with another shutout. I think we went the whole weekend playing errorless baseball too. The at-bats got better today, which usually happens as you start seeing a lot of pitches more often, the at-bats get better."
"We got a bunch of key two-out hits in that third inning, where we scored five two-out RBIs, so that's always a good thing. A lot of our runs were two-out RBIs, and that's a big thing to get in baseball. All in all, we're happy with the performance, I wish we could have finished it and played the entire game today to get more guys some work in, but it is what it is, we got a win and we'll move on to Tuesday now."
Pack Facts
The Wolf Pack begin their season with a 3-0 series sweep of Rust College for the third-consecutive season
Loyola collected double-digit hits as a team for the first time this season, going 10-26 (.385) today
The Pack scored six runs in the fourth inning today, their most for a single inning since tallying seven in the third inning of a 14-4 win over Dallas Christian on February 28th of last year
Four members of the Pack crossed home plate twice, including Nathan Law, Ben Condara, Brandon Wilson Jr., and Allen Dennis
Ben Condara has recorded an RBI in each of the Pack's three games thus far, for a team-leading total of seven
After stealing eight bases in yesterday's doubleheader, the Pack lit up the base paths yet again today, swiping four bags (Seiter, Law, Condara and Turner)
Both Nathan Law and Luke LaCoste now have three stolen bases on the season
Rawlings Elam tied a career-high today, drawing three walks
The pitching staff kept their opponents out of the run column for two-consecutive games for the first time since January 25th and 26th of 2013.
You can keep up with the Pack this season by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
