Loyola, UT Southern split conference-opening doubleheader

WESTWEGO – The 21st-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team opened Southern States Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader against Tennessee Southern on Friday, as the two split the pair of games. The Firehawks struck first with an 8-6 win, but the Wolf Pack bounced back in a big way with a 12-0 run-rule win in the nightcap. 
 

The two teams will return to Segnette Field for Saturday's series finale at 1 p.m. 
 

Game 1: UT Southern 8, #21 Loyola 6

The Firehawks got on the board in the first inning, but heads-up base running by Jaxon Buratt evened the score in the bottom half. Buratt reached on a one-out single, then moved to second on a groundout during the next at-bat. He scored when Collin Zeringue hit a ball to first, but the pitcher covering missed the bag while Buratt rounded third base and sprinted home for the score, 1-1. 
 

Both teams manufactured runs in the third inning to keep things tied, 2-2. After UT Southern took the brief lead, Brandon Mooney led off the bottom half with a single to get things going. He later stole second and took third on a throwing error by the catcher. Then with the infield playing in, he beat the throw home from the visiting second baseman. 
 

The Firehawks pushed four more runs across in the fourth and one in the fifth to jump out to a 7-2 advantage, but Loyola battled back with three runs in the fifth to cut it to 7-5. Zeringue had a two-RBI double to left-center, and Marcus Steen followed that up with an RBI triple to right-center during the next at-bat to plate the runs. 
 

The two teams traded runs after that, as the Firehawks pulled off the 8-6 win. 
 

Game 2: #21 Loyola 12, UT Southern 0 (7)

The Pack scored in the first six innings, pushing one across in each of the first three before crooked numbers in the fourth, fifth and sixth. 
 

Mooney walked in the first and moved to third on two passed balls, as a double-play ball with no outs allowed him to score, 1-0. A Landon Manson leadoff single led to an RBI single by Jake Mills in the second, 2-0, and Manson picked up an RBI single in the third with Cole Romero on base, 3-0. 
 

Loyola did its damage in the fourth with a pair of two-RBI extra-base hits. Romero doubled to left to score Mooney and Landon Trosclair, then Steen tripled down the left-field line to bring home Zeringue and Romero, 7-0. Two more came home in the fifth when Garrett Felix had a two-RBI single up the middle with the bases loaded. 
 

A Buratt double over the left fielder's head scored Manson to bring the run-rule into play, and Trosclair switched places with him with a double during the next at-bat, 11-0. An RBI single by Mooney after that ended Loyola's scoring. 
 

Brady Bowen improved to 2-0 with a phenomenal five-inning performance. He struck out eight and allowed just one hit in his shutout performance, allowing just two baserunners to reach throughout his outing. In the rare instance that a runner was on base, Bowen recorded two strikeouts while the UT Southern offense went 0-for-5. Willy Campo allowed just one hit with two strikeouts in the final two innings of work. 
 

Pack Facts

• Brandon Mooney had nearly identical stat lines in both of Friday's games, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored in each game. 

• Mooney now has a total of 155 runs in his Wolf Pack career, putting him third all-time in runs scored in Loyola history. He needs 36 more runs over the course of the season to break the career runs record at Loyola.

• So far this season, Mooney is hitting .516 with a team-high 16 hits and 19 runs scored. 

• Mooney and Cole Romero each have recorded a hit in all but one game this season. 

• Brady Bowen shut out the Firehawks with eight strikeouts and just one hit given up in five innings in Game 2's win. 

• Bowen's eight strikeouts gave him 162 for his Wolf Pack career. That officially moves him into the top 10 in career strikeouts at Loyola, as he sits in ninth. 

• Marcus Steen hit a triple in each game, driving in three runs for a team-high 16 total RBI this year. Steen has seven hits in five starts this season, all of which have been for extra bases. 

• Mooney, Landon Trosclair, Landon Manson, and Jake Mills all went for multiple hits in game 2 Friday. Trosclair has at least one hit in all three of his starts behind home plate this season. 

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