The Loyola baseball team starts their season off with a full and healthy roster.

The same couldn’t be said for last year’s team. They stayed resilient during a taxing season of injuries, but this year’s team is back and
fully healthy.

The depth of the roster helps this year’s team have more incentive to play harder. There are over 13 freshman on this year’s roster.

Jordan Wilson, criminal justice sophomore, said that with a roster returning, it will set a tone for a productive season.

“Everybody is back this season. I’m really excited to see us together and healthy. We’re looking better than we did when we were healthy last year,” Wilson said.

The Wolf Pack baseball team started their season last year with players getting injured in their first game.

They lost their starting shortstop who was a key player on the team in that game.

Over the course of the next few games, other players went down along with two of their pitchers.

The same core players have been together on the team for the past few years and have become a tight group which they hope will pay dividends this season.

Another goal that this team is trying to accomplish is a tournament appearance.

This season, the coaching staff is hoping to have their guys in place to reach their full potential and compete for an NAIA tournament appearance.

Billy Turnage, assistant coach, said that an NAIA tournament appearance would be a sign that their hard work in recruiting and solidifying their roster have officially
paid off.

“Making a tournament appearance has definitely been a goal of ours since I came here four years ago,” Turnage said.

Turnage said that his players understand what it takes to compete at a high level.

“We have some good senior pitching and leadership that have been here for four years now,” Turnage said. “These guys have a common goal in mind. You don’t come to Loyola and be a student here and not be a hard worker.”

Over the holiday break, Doug Faust, head coach, signed a pitcher from Delgado Community College.

The coaching staff also signed an outfielder from Pensacola, Florida who can help the team next season.

Faust said that recruiting players has been more selective than usual because of the team moving in the right direction.

“We have better players now that we’re able to choose from. We’re trying to find guys who can come in and play for us right away,” Faust said.

The Wolf Pack’s first game will be against Division III opponent Rust College on Feb. 4 at Segnette Field in Westwego where Wilson and his teammates are excited to get
to work.

“We’ve grown as a team, and we’re a family because of what we’ve been through together. We’re just ready to get this season started,” Wilson said.