No. 17 Baseball wins series at No. 9 William Carey

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Loyola University New Orleans baseball team split Saturday's doubleheader with No. 9 William Carey, but Thursday night's 11-4 win for the 17th-ranked Wolf Pack gave Loyola the series win. Saturday started with a 6-2 win for the Crusaders, but the Pack finished the weekend strong with a 7-3 decision in the rubber match. 
 

The Wolf Pack (35-14) finished the regular season in third place in the Southern States Athletic Conference standings with a 20-10 league mark, two games behind Carey and one game behind No. 12 Faulkner. However, the schedule for next week's SSAC Championship tournament hasn't been finalized yet. 
 

Game 1: #9 William Carey 6, #17 Loyola 2

The Wolf Pack pushed the game's first run across in the opening frame, as Garrett Felix got a solo home run to put the Wolf Pack in front quickly. After going down in order in the bottom of the first, the Crusaders took a 3-1 lead with a three-run second inning. 
 

Loyola stranded four base runners combined in the first three innings, but the big blow came in the fourth when it left three runners on base after loading them with no outs. William Carey made it a 4-1 lead in the bottom half of the fourth, then Collin Zeringue got that run back with another solo homer in the top of the fifth, 4-2. 
 

The Crusaders, however, scored two more runs while the Wolf Pack went down quietly in the final two innings.  
 

Game 2: #17 Loyola 7, #9 William Carey 3

The Wolf Pack struck first for the third straight game of the weekend, this time in the second inning. Zeringue and Marcus Steen had a single and a double during back-to-back at-bats, then a ground out from Drew Lee made it a 1-0 Loyola lead. In the next inning, the Wolf Pack took advantage of a Jaxon Buratt lead off walk, as Brandon Mooney picked up the RBI single one batter later, 2-0, after Buratt stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. 
 

The Crusaders got a two-run home run in the bottom half of the third, but the Pack pulled back ahead, 3-2, in the next half-inning. Landon Manson started Loyola's fourth with a triple, and he eventually scored two batters later when Steen hit a sacrifice fly to right. The Wolf Pack kept it going with another run in the fifth, 4-2, to make it four straight innings with a run scored. Buratt walked with one out, and after another stolen base, Felix brought him home with a single up the middle. 
 

Romero put the Pack up three in the top of the seventh with an RBI single to score Buratt for the third time in the game, 5-2. 
 

Thomas Hakimian was the Loyola starter, and besides the two-run home run in the third, the junior was tremendous on his way to his fifth win of the season. He finished with seven strikeouts while allowing the two earned runs on eight hits. Hakimian faced just one over the minimum until he found some trouble in the third, but he responded with four more strong innings to put Loyola in a good position. Frank Fernandez pitched the final two frames with a couple of strikeouts to put the game away. 
 

Loyola put insurance runs on the board in the ninth inning, 7-2. Buratt scored his fourth run of the game when Romero singled to right-center, as the play also brought home Felix. The Crusaders got a solo home run to start the bottom of the ninth, but they went away quietly after that. 
 

Pack Facts

• The Wolf Pack set a new program record with 20 conference wins this season. The team finished 35-14 overall, 20-10 in conference play heading into the SSAC Championship tournament. The Pack's 35 victories so far this season also match a program record for most wins before the conference tournament, as the team was 35-14 before last year's SSAC tournament. 

• This is Loyola's first series win over William Carey since the 2022 season. 

• Thomas Hakimian went seven full innings against the Crusaders in Game 2, his longest outing in three years at Loyola, throwing 99 pitches while walking no batters and allowing only two runs. He also tied a collegiate career high with seven strikeouts and improved his career record to 10-6, with five of those wins coming this season. 

• Jaxon Buratt outscored William Carey by himself in Game 2. The third baseman reached base in all four of his trips to the plate, and he scored all four times. 

• Cole Romero went 2-for-5 in Game 2 while driving in three runs, two of which scored off an RBI single in the ninth inning. 

• Romero moved up to a tie for sixth on the career RBI list at Loyola. He's now tied with former teammate Kason Cullins with 116 RBI, and he's done so in just two seasons. 

• The Wolf Pack center fielder's 65 RBI this year are the second most in a season in program history, trailing only Joshua Borges, who had 67 RBI in 2008. 

• Garrett Felix hit his fourth home run of the season in Game 1. It was also his 60th run scored this season, which is the seventh most in a season in program history. 

• Collin Zeringue's solo homer was his sixth of the season and 14th at Loyola. 

• Loyola accumulated eight stolen bases against the Crusaders in Game 2, led by Buratt's three swiped bags. It was the fifth time this year the team has had at least eight steals in a game. 

• Heading into the conference tournament, the Wolf Pack's stolen base total is 176, which ranks as the sixth most in the NAIA this season. 

• Landon Trosclair, who collected his 25th stolen base of the year in Game 2 after multiple hits in Game 1, has totaled 25 stolen bases in each of the last two seasons. Behind his team-high 25, Loyola is also led in that category by Landon Manson (24), Romero (23), and Brandon Mooney (20). Eight of Saturday's starters have stolen at least 10 bases this year, with Ben Harris (8) close to that mark.