WESTWEGO – The Loyola University New Orleans baseball team will head to this weekend's Cajun Collision tournament riding a six-game winning streak, earning two more wins on Tuesday over the Dillard Bleu Devils. No. 23 Loyola won the first game 11-0 before taking the nightcap 14-1, moving its record to 6-2 overall.Â
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The Pack will play four games in Sterlington, Louisiana, this weekend, first matching up with No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.) on Friday at 6 p.m.
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Game 1: #23 Loyola 11, Dillard 0
The Wolf Pack scored two early runs to set the pace of the first game of the doubleheader, then a seven-run fourth inning really blew the doors open in the game. Five Loyola batters recorded at least two hits in the contest, too, with Ross Selvaggi leading the way with three of the team's 14 hits.Â
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Luke Clement picked up the first RBI in the first inning with a double, and a bases-loaded walk with Jake Mills at the plate scored Clement to quickly give Loyola a 2-0 lead. In the third inning, Christopher Bohrer started things off with a double, which was followed up by Mills' second RBI of the game, 3-0, when he grounded out to the pitcher.Â
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The big blow came in the fourth inning with Loyola pushing across seven runs to make it a 10-0 game. Aaron Davis started the frame with a single, reaching second on an error by the left fielder. Davis then attempted to steal third base, and he scored on a throwing error in an attempt to catch him to make it a 4-0 score. Brandon Mooney kept things going with a single, then Tucker Ganley smacked the first home run of his career to extend the advantage to 6-0. Cole Romero singled and Clement walked during the next two at-bats. A single by Bohrer and a Selvaggi double brought three more runs home, 9-0. Davis finished off the scoring with a sacrifice fly two batters later, 10-0.Â
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Mooney picked up the final RBI two innings later on a sacrifice fly to bring the score to its final, 11-0.Â
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Mitchell Cope got the start for the Wolf Pack, earning the win in five innings of work. He struck out three and allowed just four hits throughout his outing. Christian Mejia made his first appearance of the season, too, finishing the last two innings of the game with a couple of strikeouts and no hits allowed.Â
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Game 2: #23 Loyola 14, Dillard 1
Loyola struck first again in the second game, pushing two runs across in the opening frame. Mooney and Ganley reached on an error and an infield single, respectively, then after the two each stole a base, a groundout by Clement and a single by Bohrer scored the two runs. The Pack made it a 3-0 lead with another run in the second. After leading off with a walk, Selvaggi came around to score when Ganley singled to right.Â
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The Wolf Pack doubled their total with three more runs in the third inning, as Clement and Bohrer both got on base with no outs. Two batters later, Selvaggi reached on an error by the pitcher that scored a run, then a foul out by Brady Morgan led to Bohrer racing home after tagging up. With the score 5-0, another error by the Dillard defense off the bat of Ganley pushed the score to 6-0.Â
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After a lone run in the fourth, four hits and another Dillard error led to five more runs in the fifth for Loyola to make it a 12-0 lead. Ganley picked up the first RBI after getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, then Romero and Clement each added two RBI during consecutive at-bats. Finally, a sacrifice fly by Bohrer and a bases-loaded walk for Selvaggi brought the Pack to their 14 runs. Dillard did add a run in the top of the seventh, though.Â
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Nathan Monceaux picked up his first win in a Wolf Pack uniform, pitching four innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts. He walked just one, too. Jake Mills, Joshua Orr and Jackson Sloan pitched each pitched an inning to close things out, combining for five more strikeouts.Â
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Pack Facts
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Wolf Pack hitters continued to impress on Tuesday. Loyola's 14 hits in Game 1 matched the most by the team in a single game in this season, and its most in a 7-inning game. The team has reached double-digit hits in four-straight games, and five of the eight games this season.Â
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Hitting his first collegiate home run, Tucker Ganley had one of the best offensive days of his Wolf Pack career, going a combined 4-for-5 in the doubleheader with four runs scored, four RBI, and four walks between the two games. He reached base every single time he stepped up to the plate on Tuesday.
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Through the first eight games of the year, Ganley leads the team in batting average (.545), on-base percentage (.621), and slugging percentage (.818).
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The Wolf Pack's hits leader through eight games is Christopher Bohrer, who continued his impressive start to the season. Bohrer was also a combined 4-for-5 between the two games, belting a left-field homer to give him three total RBI in Game 2.Â
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Bohrer has a nine-game hitting streak dating back to last season, with four multi-hit games in a row.Â
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Cole Romero, who had a hit in each game, extended his hitting streak to 19 games, dating back to last season.Â
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Bohrer, Romero, Brandon Mooney, and Luke Clement have all reached base in each game of the season so far.Â
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A few players made their Wolf Pack debuts and reached at least first base in the process. Tyler Durland and Jonathan Hammer each reached on a walk, while Anthony Fernandez had a hit on the first pitch he saw in a Wolf Pack uniform.Â
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Nathan Monceaux's seven strikeouts were the second-most by a Loyola pitcher this year.Â
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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.