No. 12 Loyola snaps skid with win over LCU

WESTWEGO, La. – The 12th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team needed some heroics on Tuesday against Louisiana Christian, as Cole Romero hit the walk-off single to lift the Pack over the Wildcats, 6-5, at Segnette Field. 
 

After LCU tied the game in the top of the ninth, 5-5, Ben Harris was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom half of the frame, followed by back-to-back walks for Brandon Mooney and Garrett Felix to load the bases for Romero. Facing a full count and the LCU infield playing in, Romero sent a softly hit ball into shallow right field to score the game-winning run. 
 

The Wildcats scored three runs in the first and two in the ninth to bring the score to a tie. Matthew Weil moved his pitching record to 4-0 after entering in the top of the ninth without allowing any more runs. With a runner on second, he walked the first batter he faced before getting a pop-out and a strikeout to limit the damage. 
 

Louisiana Christian used three free passes and a bases-clearing double to jump out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Wolf Pack answered with a four-spot in the bottom half of the frame, though. Felix walked with one out, then Romero doubled to score Loyola's first run. Landon Manson kept things going with a walk, and with runners on the corners, a failed pick-off attempt by the LCU pitcher led to Loyola's second run. Another double, this time from Collin Zeringue, evened the score, 3-3, and a ground out by Marcus Steen gave the Pack the lead, 4-3. 
 

After LCU scored the three runs in the top of the first, Elvin Delic came in to pitch the second and used 11 pitches to sit down the Wildcats in order. He allowed a couple of base runners in the third, but a 5-4-3-5 triple play got him out of the inning unscathed. He worked an effective fourth inning, too, needing just 10 pitches to keep the Wildcats off the board again. 
 

The Wolf Pack made it a 5-3 lead in the fourth inning. Landon Trosclair tripled off the center-field wall, and a single to shallow left-center by Ben Harris brought home the run. 
 

Frank Fernandez, Carter Holstein and Prescott Marsh continued to keep the Wildcats off the board in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Fernandez and Holstein each struck out one, while Marsh got three ground outs. 
 

Pack Facts

• Cole Romero's walk-off single was part of a 2-for-4 day at the plate where he scored a run, walked, hit a double, and drove in two runs.

• Romero now has 58 RBI this season, which is the fourth-most in a season by any Wolf Pack player in program history. 

• Landon Manson also had a double and a single, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. 

• Manson and Romero each are on five-game hitting streaks. 

• Matthew Weil became the second Wolf Pack pitcher this season to reach four wins after closing out the ninth inning while not allowing any runs. He now has 10 pitching wins in his Loyola career and owns a 10-5 record. 

• In his longest outing of the season, Elvin Delic needed just 32 pitches to go through the entire LCU batting order. He didn't allow a hit over three innings and recorded one strikeout. 

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