WESTWEGO – A successful season-opening weekend came to a close on Friday at Segnette Field, as the seventh-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack and No. 14 Reinhardt University (Ga.) split a doubleheader. Loyola won the first game, 12-4, to claim the first three games of the series, while the Eagles salvaged the finale, 9-3.
The Wolf Pack continues their season-opening homestand on Tuesday with a doubleheader against Dillard starting at 3 p.m.
Game 1: #7 Loyola 12, #14 Reinhardt 4
Loyola struck first with four runs in the second inning thanks to a bases-clearing double by Drew Lee. Reed Duthu pushed the first run across with a bases-loaded walk, then Lee stepped in the batter's box and smoked a 3-2 pitch over the right-fielder's head to score three more runs, 4-0.
After RU scored a lone run in the top of the third, the Pack answered with another run in the bottom half of the frame, 5-1. Jordan McKenzie started the inning with a walk, and he moved all the way to third on a failed pickoff attempt by the Eagles' pitcher. Jovan Swasey brought him home on a double down the left-field line.
Loyola continued to extend its lead in the fourth inning. Aden Argote started the inning with a single through the left side, and pinch runner Tanner Powell got into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Lee. He eventually scored when Nathan McDonald doubled over the center fielder's head, 6-1. McDonald came around to score after McKenzie's fourth double of the weekend, 7-1.
Thomas Hakimian looked sharp in his first start of the season. He earned the win after four strong innings of the seven-inning game, striking out six while allowing one earned run on three hits. He struck out four of the first five batters he faced, giving the Loyola offense an early head start and helping it take control of the game.
Hunter Ponson needed just seven pitches to complete the fifth inning before Reinhardt plated a run in the sixth, 7-2. He struck out two, including the final out of the sixth inning with two on base, while allowing just one hit.
The Pack added some insurance runs in the sixth inning, extending the score to 12-2. McKenzie and Cambre each picked up RBI base hits, and Ayden Authement had an unorthodox double that ricocheted off the second baseman into no-man's land to plate two more. RU scored two runs during their final at-bat in the seventh to bring the game to its final.
Game 2: #14 Reinhardt 9, #7 Loyola 3
The Eagles got off to a good start with four runs in the first inning, but the Wolf Pack chipped into their lead over the next couple of frames. Ponson, who was the designated hitter this game, doubled to start the second and eventually scored on a groundout by Duthu, 4-1. In the third, Swasey doubled off the right-field wall to score courtesy runner Kash Koontz, 4-2, who was running for McDonald after he singled through the left side and stole second.
Ryder Loup entered to pitch in the first inning, and needed just one pitch before McDonald at catcher and Swasey at second base to pull off a double play on a double steal attempt by the Eagles to end the inning. The redshirt freshman held Reinhardt off the board for the next three innings with six strikeouts while giving up just two hits.
McDonald made it a one-run game in the fifth, 4-3, blasting a pitch 103 MPH off his bat 350 feet over the left-field wall. Loyola was held scoreless the rest of the way while the Eagles scored two in the seventh, one in the eighth and two more in the ninth to salvage one game in the series.
Pack Facts
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Thomas Hakimian won his 13th collegiate game on Friday, moving him into the top 10 in Loyola's baseball record book in career wins. He's now tied for 10th in that category.
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Hakimian's six strikeouts in Game 1 Friday were tied with Ryder Loup's six Ks in Game 2 for most by any pitcher in the series. It was also a new collegiate career high for Loup.
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Jovan Swasey had at least one hit in all four games of the series, recording eight hits in 16 at-bats with four runs scored and six RBI.
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Swasey led the Wolf Pack in batting average (.500) among those who played all four games, though Ayden Authement had five hits combined in just nine at-bats (.556) in the second and third games, and Jaxon Buratt went 3-for-3 in the opener.
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Four different Loyola hitters logged at least one hit in every game this week: Swasey, Jordan McKenzie, Nathan McDonald, and Jed Cambre.
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McKenzie had five extra-base hits in the series, including a home run, while Cambre and McDonald (2 HR) both had four.
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JJ Garcia led the team with seven runs scored in the series, while McDonald and Reed Duthu each crossed home plate six times.
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