No. 14 Loyola handles SUNO Tuesday

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans baseball team played its final non-conference game of the regular season on Tuesday, defeating Southern University at New Orleans, 13-5, at Wesley Barrow Stadium. 
 

The 14th-ranked Wolf Pack (31-12, 14-7 in SSAC) will return to Segnette Field this weekend for their final set of home games. Loyola and Point University (15-24, 4-17) will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 3 p.m. before Saturday's 1 p.m. series finale. Senior Day festivities will take place before Saturday's game. 
 

Loyola, No. 15 William Carey, Abraham Baldwin, and Thomas are all tied atop the SSAC standings with 14-7 records. Carey plays at Thomas this weekend, and ABAC travels to Blue Mountain Christian. 
 

The Pack was held off the board through the first two innings, but they got a huge inning in the third to take the lead. SUNO scored one in the first and two in the second before Loyola put up six in the third. Nathan McDonald picked up the first RBI on a sacrifice fly to center to score Jed Cambre, who walked earlier in the inning, then Mike Latulas tied the game, 3-3, with a two-RBI single, scoring Jaxon Buratt and JJ Garcia. Reed Duthu scored on a wild pitch after that, and Jordan McKenzie ended the frame with a two-run home run to left field, 6-3. 
 

Loyola scored three more in the fourth to extend its advantage, 9-3. McDonald, Garcia, and Duthu loaded the bases with a single, a walk, and a hit by pitch, then Latulas picked up another two RBI with a single to right. McKenzie added another RBI to his total, too, scoring the third run on a sacrifice fly. 
 

The scoring continued in the fifth. Buratt and Duthu walked, and Drew Lee singled, to load the bases, as the first run scored via a balk. After Latulas was hit by a pitch to load the bases again, McKenzie walked to make the lead 11-3. SUNO scored one in the bottom half, but Loyola got that run back in the top of the sixth. With Myles Liggans on third, Tanner Powell got an RBI groundout to the right side of the infield to make the score 12-4. Hunter Ponson picked up the RBI in the seventh with a triple down the right-field line, 13-4. 
 

Ronin Robles got the win with a 1.1-inning relief outing early in the game. He recorded a couple of strikeouts while giving up just one hit during his time on the mound. Grant Goodbee pitched a quick inning in the fourth, recording a couple of strikeouts in the process. Prescott Marsh and Caden Durand pitched the fifth and sixth innings, as neither gave up a hit. Jake Clifton tallied three strikeouts in the seventh to keep the Knights off the board as well. Ryder Loup gave up one run but struck out three in the eighth inning, and Carter Holstein pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to wrap things up. 
 

Pack Facts

• Mike Latulas led the game in hits with a 3-for-3 night at the plate, adding four RBI and one run scored. 

• Loyola's pitchers combined to throw 13 strikeouts, which is tied for the team's most in a game this season. Jake Clifton and Ryder Loup each had a game-high three strikeouts. 

• Jordan McKenzie hit his fourth home run of the season, tied for the second most on the team, and drove in a game-high four runs. 

• JJ Garcia went 2-for-4 at the plate with a game-high three runs scored. Nathan McDonald also had two hits in the game. 

• This was Loyola's 19th game this season recording at least 10 hits and its 17th game scoring at least 10 runs.

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