VICTORIA, Texas – The 23rd-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team earned another series win on Friday, defeating Houston-Victoria twice on the road to make it three straight series wins. Loyola (12-6) opened the day with an 8-2 win before a 2-0 decision in the nightcap. The Wolf Pack and Jaguars will meet for one more game on Saturday, with the series finale set to start at 12 p.m.
 

Game 1: #23 Loyola 8, Houston-Victoria 2

After UHV tied the game at 2-all in the third inning, the Wolf Pack scored three in the fifth which proved to be the difference in the first game of Friday's doubleheader. Anthony Fernandez and Luke Clement singled and Ross Selvaggi walked to get the bases loaded with one out. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Jake Mills made it 3-2, then an infield single by Tucker Ganley loaded the bases with two outs. Brady Morgan came in to pinch hit, and he delivered with a two-RBI single to left field, which made it a 5-2 advantage for Loyola. 
 

Loyola struck first in the second inning, getting the bases loaded with two outs after singles by Mills, Aaron Davis and Brandon Mooney. A Kason Cullins single to left brought home two runs to quickly make the score 2-0 in favor of the Pack. The Jaguars tied the game with two runs on two hits in the third, though. 
 

The Pack added three more runs in the seventh inning for good measure. Davis and Cullins each came up with the clutch hits, as Davis picked up two RBI on a single to center, scoring Mills and Ryan Smilari, then Cullins brought home Landon Trosclair to make it an 8-2 lead. 
 

While Loyola was putting the game away offensively, Stephen Still was holding the Jaguars' bats down on the mound. The junior left-hander allowed UHV's two runs off four hits while striking out four in six innings of work. 
 

Game 2: #23 Loyola 3, Houston-Victoria 0

Thomas Hakimian tossed a gem in the second game of the doubleheader to earn his first collegiate win on the bump, fanning seven UHV batters in six innings while only giving up three hits. Two of those three hits came in the second inning, as the freshman pitched 1-2-3 frames in the first, third and fourth innings to set Loyola up for the win. 
 

Loyola's offense got lone runs in the first, fifth and ninth innings, and that was all it needed with Hakimian pitching well. The team got its scoring started when Mooney started the game with a single, then he eventually scored off a double by Morgan four at-bats later. Mooney, again, got a leadoff single in the fifth to set up Loyola's second run of the game. This time a double by Fernandez three at-bats later made it a 2-0 lead. Finally, the Wolf Pack added an insurance run in the final inning, but this time Mooney reached on a double with one out. Two at-bats later, Mooney scored on a wild pitch. 
 

Pack Facts

• In his fourth season with the team, Wolf Pack head coach Jeremy Kennedy, who is nearing 500 career coaching victories, now has 101 wins at Loyola. 

• With the win in Game 1, Stephen Still now has 14 pitching wins in his career (ninth-most in a career in Loyola history) and three this season. 

• In 29.0 innings pitched this year, Still has allowed just five runs. 

• Thomas Hakimian struck out seven batters while allowing just three hits and no runs in a six-inning start in Game 2. Though it's his first pitching win of the season, the Wolf Pack are 4-0 in games in which Hakimian has thrown at least three full innings. 

• Brady Bowen picked up the third save of his Wolf Pack career and his second of the season. 

• The first four batters in the order (Brandon Mooney, Kason Cullins, Cole Romero, and Anthony Fernandez), as well as Jake Mills and Brady Morgan, all recorded at least one hit in both games of the doubleheader.

• Cullins also was the only Wolf Pack player with multiple hits in both games.  

• While Loyola tallied 13 hits in Game 1 and 10 in Game 2, the Wolf Pack pitchers held Houston-Victoria to only 10 hits total on Friday, with five in each game. 

• Putting together another solid offensive performance in Game 2, Mooney went 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored, a walk and a double. 

• Mooney has five doubles this season, tied with Romero for a team high. 

You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.