No. 11 Loyola claims series at Point

WEST POINT, Ga. – The No. 11 Loyola Wolf Pack improved their record to 23-8 overall and 11-4 in league play on Saturday, winning the rubber match over Point University (Ga.), 6-2, on the road. 
 

The Wolf Pack won't play a midweek contest this week ahead of next weekend's SSAC matchup with Blue Mountain Christian. Loyola and the Toppers will meet at Segnette Field for the series opener at 5 p.m. on Friday before a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. on Saturday concludes the three-game set. 
 

Landon Manson picked up two sacrifice flies through the first three innings to help Loyola to an early 4-0 lead. Brandon Mooney, Garrett Felix and Cole Romero all reached base ahead of Manson in the opening frame, as Romero's single brought home Mooney for the first run. Manson flew out to left to score Felix during the next at-bat to make it a 2-0 game after Loyola's top half of the first. In the third, a Mooney double led to an RBI single by Felix before Manson made the lead 4-0 with his second sac fly. 
 

Loyola starter Thomas Hakimian improved his record to 2-0 after a solid outing. He worked 5.1 innings with a couple of strikeouts while allowing two earned runs and scattering five hits. He picked off a base runner in the second, and after allowing the two runs in the third, he retired eight straight before being lifted in the sixth. Cole Bordes took over and squashed Point's rally in the sixth, then pitched the final 3.2 innings with no runs allowed to earn his third save of the season.  
 

The Wolf Pack finally ended their scoring drought in the eighth inning, adding one run to extend their lead to 5-2. Romero singled with one out, and he moved to third when Marcus Steen was hit by a pitch and Manson walked. He came home one batter later after Drew Lee grounded out to the left side of the infield, then Loyola added an insurance run in the ninth, 6-2. Ayden Authement notched a pinch-hit single with one out, and Mooney brought him home with another double one batter later. 
 

Pack Facts

• Thomas Hakimian was solid in his first weekend start of the year. The junior grabbed his second win of the year, and seventh of his collegiate career, while giving up just two runs in five innings. 

• Cole Bordes came in during the sixth inning and kept the Skyhawks scoreless the rest of the way to earn his third save of the year. That's tied with Caden Durand for the most saves on the team this season. 

• Brandon Mooney went 3-for-5 at the plate Saturday with two doubles, two runs scored, an RBI, and a stolen base. He finished with six hits in the series, half of which were doubles, and he crossed home plate five times. 

• Just 31 games into the season, Mooney has already scored 50 runs, which is currently the ninth-most by a player in any season in Wolf Pack history. In last year's record-breaking year, Mooney had scored 43 runs by the 31-game mark. 

• Mooney's two doubles in Saturday's game also brings him to 42 doubles at Loyola, which is seventh most by a Wolf Pack player.

• Cole Romero went 2-for-4 with an RBI, extending his hitting streak to 26 games. 

• Marcus Steen collected a pair of hits in Saturday's game, as well as in Game 1 on Friday, to finish with five hits for the series.

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