After Loyola ties it in the fourth inning, the Crusaders plate six in the sixth to take the victory
WESTWEGO, La. - In the rubber match of their weekend series with 11th-ranked William Carey, the Loyola University New Orleans baseball team fell 9-3 Sunday afternoon at Segnette Field.
The Crusaders (28-15, 12-6) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, before Payton Alexander hit a single to third base that platted Charlie Seiter to make it 3-1. The Wolf Pack (20-27, 3-17) made it a one-run game in the fourth inning, when the William Carey pitcher threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded, allowing Alexander to score. After Zachary Cook hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth, he came around to tie the game at three, scoring on a misplayed pop fly by the Crusaders' right fielder.
In the top of the sixth inning however, the visitors brought six runners across home plate, taking a 9-3 lead that they would hold through the ninth inning.
The Wolf Pack will take the upcoming week off before playing in their final home series of the season, hosting No. 13 Mobile April 20th and 21st for three games.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Doug Faust
"The game today was an example of why timely hitting is so important in baseball. Both teams had many opportunities to take control throughout the early and middle part of that game, and we failed to get any big hits or big at-bats when we had the bases loaded twice. Eventually, [William Carey] did, they had a six-run inning. They just kept having good at-bats and we couldn't get out of the inning."
"All in all, winning one of three games is a step in the right direction, but what's frustrating is that we're close enough to start winning two out of three from good teams if we could just get some timely hits and perform better in game-winning moments. We didn't do that today, so until we do that, we'll continue to struggle against good teams. But hopefully we build off this weekend, and next weekend we take advantage of the opportunities that we get and try to win the series."
Pack Facts
Zachary Cook is now on an 11 game hit streak and is batting .425 (17/40) with 11 runs scored, two doubles, three RBI and five stolen bases during that stretch.
Payton Alexander collected his fifth RBI of the weekend series today and now has 23 on the season, second-most on the team.
Catcher Gabriel Trastoy threw out three runners attempting to steal today, and has now caught 17 runners in 27 attempts.
Brenden Taravella came in for three innings of relief, tying his season-high, and did not allow a run.
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.
