Baseball wins two Friday

PULASKI, Tenn. – The Loyola University New Orleans baseball team hit the road for the final time of the regular season this week, as the Wolf Pack takes on Tennessee Southern for their second-to-last Southern States Athletic Conference series. It started with two games on Friday with Loyola taking both games, 5-1 and 8-6. 
 

The two teams will meet up back on Saturday for a 12 p.m. series finale. 
 

Game 1: #13 Loyola 5, UT Southern 1 (7)

Loyola (35-11, 18-8 in SSAC) struck first with a run in the second inning. Kason Cullins started things with a single up the middle, then advanced all the way to third on a wild pitch and a passed ball during the next at-bat. After a walk and two strikeouts, Cullins scored on another wild pitch to give Loyola a 1-0 lead. The Wolf Pack then put a crooked number on the board in the fourth, pushing their lead to 4-0. Pinch-hitter Marcus Steen singled with one out, and pinch-runner Aaron Davis quickly got into scoring position with a stolen base. Jake Mills made the score 2-0 with an RBI single to right, and Jaxon Buratt walked two batters later to put two on base with two outs. Both runners came home to score, 4-0, when Landon Manson doubled to right-center. 
 

After the Firehawks got one run back in the sixth, Loyola answered in the top of the seventh with another run. Anthony Fernandez had a leadoff walk, and pinch-runner Garrett Beadle got to third on a single by Cullins. Beadle would eventually score after a ground out off the bat of Prescott Marsh, 5-1. 
 

Stephen Still threw all seven innings, and he struck out a season-high nine while allowing just three hits to move his record to 8-1 this season. The senior didn't walk a batter either, pitching five 1-2-3 innings to cap off his first complete game of the season. 
 

Game 2: #13 Loyola 8, UT Southern 6

Loyola scored three early runs to jump ahead 3-0 through three innings. Collin Zeringue walked to start the second, and he moved into scoring position when Fernandez singled through the right side during the next at-bat. Landon Trosclair picked up the RBI two batters later, 1-0, and Mills scored Fernandez, 2-0, later in the frame. In the third, Fernandez was the one to record the RBI this time, 3-0, scoring Manson, who doubled down the left-field line earlier in the inning. 
 

UT Southern scored two in the bottom half of the third to cut Loyola's lead to 3-2, but the Wolf Pack responded to take a six-run lead toward the end of the game. Mills singled home two runs in the sixth, 5-2, and Cullins made it 6-2 with another single in the seventh. Manson tallied two RBI in the eighth, 8-2, but the Firehawks got a three-run home run in the bottom half of the frame, then they'd tack on another run, to trim the score to 8-6 after eight innings. 
 

Marsh got the start for Loyola, improving his record to 3-0 with five strong innings. He allowed two earned runs on four hits, then Frank Fernandez picked up his first collegiate save with 1.2 innings of work to finish off the win.
 

Pack Facts

• Stephen Still went the full seven innings in Game 1 on Friday, only giving up 3 hits, no walks and one run while striking out nine to pick up his eighth pitching win of the season. 

• Still now has 71 strikeouts this season, which is tied with Brady Bowen's 2023 season for the fifth-most in program history. 

• His eight wins are tied for the second-most wins in a season in program history. Still also had eight wins last season. 

• Loyola batters combined for 15 hits in Game 2. That's tied for the third-most hits in a game by the Pack this season. 

• Landon Manson recorded two hits with two RBI in both games, also hitting a double in each game. 

• Kason Cullins also had multiple hits in both games of the doubleheader.

• Cullins and Jaxon Buratt both have hitting streaks of at least 10 games. Buratt has had a hit in each of his last 12 games; Cullins, in each of his last 11.