11th-ranked Wolf Pack sweeps doubleheader over BMCU

WESTWEGO – The No. 11 Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team has won all nine of their weekend series this season with the latest coming on Friday after a doubleheader sweep of Blue Mountain Christian. Loyola started the day with a 6-3 win before taking the series finale 8-4 to move its record to 25-9 and 13-5 in the Southern States Athletic Conference. 
 

Loyola will next play against crosstown rival Dillard at 5 p.m. on Tuesday for a non-conference contest. The Pack beat the Bleu Devils 10-0 in seven innings in their last matchup earlier this month. 
 

Game 1: #11 Loyola 6, BMCU 3

Loyola got off to a good start with a five-run first inning. Jaxon Buratt and Brandon Mooney were hit by a pitch and Cole Romero singled during the first three at-bats to quickly load the bases, and a groundout off the bat of Garrett Felix scored the first run. Landon Manson walked to load the bases again, then a passed ball made it 2-0. An infield single scored the third run, and Jed Cambre delivered the big blow with a two-RBI double down the left-field line, 5-0. 
 

The Wolf Pack added a run in the second inning to go ahead 6-0. Buratt led off the frame with a double, moving to third on a passed ball and scoring on a groundout. The Toppers chipped into the lead with a run in the third and two in the fifth, 6-3. 
 

Thomas Hakimian got the win on the bump after pitching the first 4.2 innings of the game. He needed just 25 pitches to get through the first two innings before escaping a no-out bases-loaded jam in the third with very little damage. A six-pitch fourth inning put another zero on the board, finishing the game with three strikeouts and three earned runs allowed.
 

Elvin Delic got the next two outs with ease, and Caden Durand earned the five-out save with a strikeout and no hits allowed. 
 

Game 2: #11 Loyola 8, BMCU 4

Loyola was gifted a couple of runs in the second inning to get the scoring started, using two infield errors to take an early lead. Felix reached base on the first error, and with two runners on base and two outs, Drew Lee made it to first safely and scored the two runs on the second error. Both were throwing errors by the Toppers' infield. 
 

The two teams traded runs in the third, sixth and seventh innings to bring the score to 5-3. After Anthony Fernandez started the bottom half of the third with a double, he came home on a Romero groundout to keep it a two-run lead. Both Romero and Fernandez scored the runs in the sixth and seventh innings, too, each collecting solo home runs. 
 

The Toppers scored a run for the third straight inning in the eighth, 5-4, but instead of matching their opponent, the Wolf Pack created more separation with a three-run frame to extend their lead to 8-4. Romero led off the inning with a single, and he came around to score, 6-4, when Mooney doubled to left-center. A sacrifice fly brought home pinch-runner Ben Harris, 7-4, and Cambre pushed the final run across, 8-4, when he doubled to left-center. 
 

After getting warm in the bullpen at the end of the first game of the doubleheader, Cole Bordes got the start for the Wolf Pack and earned the win with a 5.2-inning performance. He allowed two earned runs on five hits before giving way to Payton Cooper in the sixth. Cooper and Matthew Weil closed out the game, each allowing an earned run. 
 

Pack Facts

• Cole Romero's sixth-inning home run in the second game was his ninth of the season and 17th of his Wolf Pack career. He's now tied for sixth in career home runs at Loyola, and his nine homers this season are tied for the 10th most in a season in the Wolf Pack record book.

• Romero, who extended his hitting streak to 29 games, went 3-for-4 in the first game Friday and 2-for-4 in the second, totaling six hits for the series. 

• Anthony Fernandez's home run in the seventh was his 10th at Loyola. 

• Thomas Hakimian (3-0) picked up his third pitching win of the season for his performance in Friday's first game,, while Cole Bordes got his first win of the season in his first start in Game 2. 

• Matthew Weil put together two solid outings against the Toppers, allowing just two hits and one run in 4.1 total innings. His second relief appearance earned him the save in Friday's Game 2, his second save at Loyola.

• In Game 1, Caden Durand got his fourth save of the season after not allowing a hit across 1.2 innings. His four saves this season put him in a tie with two others, including Brady Bowen's 2023 season, for ninth-most in a season in Wolf Pack history. 

• Drew Lee caught BMCU center fielder Hayden Redding stealing in the first inning of Game 2 with a perfect throw to second base. The Wolf Pack kept Redding from recording any stolen bases in the series, and it was just the second time Redding had been caught this season. 

• Jed Cambre got the start in right field in both games Friday, and he hit a double in each game. Four of Cambre's five hits this season have been doubles. 

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