The Loyola Baseball team suffered three losses against Faulkner University in their weekend series, extending their winless streak to eight consecutive games.
In Game 1, the team opened the series with a 3-5 loss in extra innings.
Both teams scored three runs causing a tie at the end of the seventh inning. The game went into two more innings with Faulkner besting the Wolf Pack with two late runs in the ninth inning.
Thirty minutes after Game 1, the Wolf Pack hit the field again for the next game, falling 1-5 versus their rivals.
The opposing team managed to dominate the game with Loyola only scoring one point in the third inning.
In Game 3, the team capped off their Saturday game with a 13-2 home loss.
Faulkner University once again outplayed Loyola, leaving them only scoring two points scattered throughout the game. The Wolf Pack managed to rack up runs late in the game in the sixth and eighth innings, but failed to match up against their conference rivals.
Head coach Doug Faust believes the team played solid baseball for the most part.
Faust praised the pitching during the series but believed there are still improvements to be made.
“Our younger guys have been thrown into the fire at times in crucial situations and have responded really well for the most part,” Faust said. “As they continue to gain experience, they should become more consistent.”
Along with pitching, Faust sees improvements to be made in hitting and defense.
“We have a solid defense for the most part,” he said. “We just need to eliminate the mistakes that have been costing us runs.”
The team has been disappointed with the recent losses but believe that some of them had to be expected.
“We knew our conference would be very difficult with five out of the nine teams ranked in the top 30 in the country,” Faust said.
At the same time, the team recognizes some losses were the cause of self-inflicted mistakes.
“We probably should have won three of the games that we lost,” Faust said.
Despite all this, Faust believes that the young team can persevere through the season.
“We are now just past the halfway point of the season so inexperience should no longer be as big of an issue,” he said. “We need to continue to work on the things that have been costing us lately and keep a positive attitude in the second half of the season.”
Loyola now stands at 15-15 and have not won a game since March 5 versus Dakota State University. The team stands in the eighth spot in the Southern States Athletic Conference standings with a 1-8 record.
The next series will be on the road versus Bethel University on March 23.
