No. 11 Loyola takes care of Dillard Tuesday

WESTWEGO – The Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team handled their business Tuesday night, defeating Dillard, 10-0, in a run-rule effort. 
 

Loyola (19-5) got the scoring started with three runs in the opening frame. Brandon Mooney led things off with a triple to center, and he came home on a Cole Romero single up the middle two at-bats later. Collin Zeringue walked, and after a passed ball put both runners in scoring position, Landon Manson singled home both of the runners to give Loyola an early 3-0 lead.
 

Romero got the scoring started in the third with a 374-foot homer to left field, 4-0. After Zeringue reached on an error and Jaxon Buratt walked to put two on base later in the inning, Jed Cambre doubled off the left-field wall to plate two more runs, 6-0. 
 

Drew Lee came through with a two-out RBI single in the seventh, 7-0, and in the sixth, Garrett Beadle hammered a two-run homer over the scoreboard in left field to push the advantage to 9-0. A bases-loaded single by Beadle in the seventh gave Loyola the 10-0 lead and ended the game early for the eighth run-rule win of the season.   
 

Thomas Hakimian was stellar in his five innings of work as the starter. The junior struck out five, walked one, and allowed just two hits in his shutout performance to earn his first win of the season. He faced the minimum in the first inning after hitting the leadoff batter, striking out two in that frame with a pick-off. He recorded four strikeouts in a row after mowing down the side in the second inning, and he scattered those two hits in the third and fourth innings before working a quick fifth to close out his outing.  
 

Hunter Ponson and Grant Goodbee closed the door in the sixth and seventh innings. 
 

Schedule Change This Weekend vs. Mobile

The Wolf Pack travels to Mobile at the end of the week to take on another SSAC opponent. The game times have been moved up a day due to inclement weather over the weekend in the Mobile area. Loyola and Mobile will play its series opener on Thursday at 6 p.m., then the two teams will finish the series with a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m.
 

Loyola is 7-2 in SSAC play so far this season, which is tied in the loss column with William Carey (10-2) and Faulkner (7-2) atop the league standings. The Rams are 5-4 so far in conference action with series wins over Thomas and Brewton Parker while getting swept by Abraham Baldwin as well. 
 

Pack Facts

• In addition to the RBI single that sealed the run-rule victory, Garrett Beadle also hit the second home run of his Wolf Pack career, a two run rocket over the scoreboard in left field. 

• Cole Romero's third-inning solo blast was his team-best sixth home run of the season. He also now has 14 home runs in two seasons at Loyola. 

• Romero also extended his team-best hitting streak to 19 games. Garrett Felix has the second-highest active hitting streak on the team, now at 11 games. 

• Brandon Mooney went 2-for-4 at the plate, with one of his hits being a triple, and he scored one run. 

• In Loyola's record book, Mooney is now tied for second in career runs scored with Payton Alexander. Both have 178 total runs. He also moved into a tie for seventh on the career hits list, becoming the eighth Wolf Pack player ever to amass 200 hits in a season. 

• The Wolf Pack pitching staff was excellent Tuesday, collecting the team's fourth shutout win of the season. It was also the team's eighth 10-run rule victory of the year. 

• Thomas Hakimian earned his first pitching win of the season, with five strikeouts over the first five innings of the game while allowing just two hits and no runs. Hunter Ponson and Grant Goodbee combined to complete the shutout of the Bleu Devils.