No.14 Baseball wins series over Mobile

WESTWEGO – The 14th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack baseball claimed another Southern States Athletic Conference series win on Saturday, splitting a doubleheader with the Mobile Rams to win two out of three over the weekend. 
 

Loyola is now 29-9 overall and 15-6 in SSAC play, and it'll next host SUNO for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
 

Game 1: #14 Loyola 3, Mobile 2 (7)

Payton Cooper pitched a complete game and the Wolf Pack offense scored three late-inning runs to clinch the series over the Rams. Cooper pitched all seven innings while giving up the two earned runs on eight hits, which mostly came in the early innings. The junior allowed one run each in the third and fourth innings, but only needed to strand one base runner in the final three innings. 
 

Meanwhile, it took the Wolf Pack offense until the fifth inning to push a run across. Trailing 2-0, Brandon Mooney reached second on an error by the Rams' right fielder, then he scored, 2-1, during the next at-bat when Jaxon Buratt singled to left field. Kason Cullins got things going in the sixth with a lead-off walk, and Landon Trosclair recorded a bunt single to the first baseman to put two on with no outs. Aaron Davis moved the two into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and Mooney came through with a two-RBI single to give Loyola the 3-2 lead.
 

Game 2: Mobile 14, #14 Loyola 12

Loyola struck first with a two-run first inning, as Mooney got things going with a lead-off walk. Jaxon Buratt grounded into a fielder's choice, but the Rams' third baseman threw the ball away to put runners on the corners with no outs. A double down the left-field line by Landon Manson scored the two runners, 2-0. The Wolf Pack kept it going in the second inning as well. Marcus Steen started the frame with a double off the left-field wall, and he later scored on a single by Jake Mills, 3-0. 
 

The fifth inning featured 12 total runs, as Loyola answered Mobile's seven runs with five of its own to regain the lead. Mills started the scoring with an RBI single, 7-4, then Mooney followed that up with a two-RBI single during the next at-bat, 7-6. Manson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to get to tie it, 7-7, and finally, a sacrifice fly off the bat of Zeringue gave the Wolf Pack the lead again, 8-7. 
 

The Rams, however, scored seven runs in the final four innings to retake the lead and pull away. Loyola did get into a position to win it after plating one run in the eighth. Trailing 14-9, Cullins scored Buratt on a fielder's choice, 14-10, and Marcus Steen brought home two more runs on a single through the right side, 14-12. The Pack, though, would leave the game-tying run at second base.   
 

Pack Facts

• In Payton Cooper's second start of the year, he completed all seven innings while only allowing two runs, striking out three. 

• Jaxon Buratt had multiple hits in all three games of the Mobile series, and he's had at least two hits in seven of the last eight contests. He's also gotten on base in all 33 games he's played this season. 

• Buratt totaled seven hits in the series and got on base 12 times, going 7-for-10 at the plate with five walks, four runs, and three RBI. 

• Buratt's on-base percentage, now .550, continues to lead the team. 

• This was Loyola's fifth conference series win of the season, and its third straight. 

• Brandon Mooney had a hit in all three games, including a game-winning 2-RBI double in the sixth inning in the 3-2 win. Mooney's 11-game hitting streak is currently the best on the team. 

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