The Loyola baseball team has won seven of its last nine games, including its first three conference games.
The Wolfpack stands at 7-6 overall, after a weekend sweep of Gulf Coast Athletic Conference rival William Carey and a Tuesday night loss to Southeastern Louisiana.
The ‘Pack showed how far it’s come under Beeman in a 12 inning, 10-9 Friday win at William Carey’s H.R. Morgan Field.
Trailing 7-2 going into the seventh inning, communications senior Hudson Miller started the rally by getting on base, and physics senior Greg Veltri singled him home to cut the deficit to four.
Then, in the eighth, the floodgates opened, and Loyola would torment the opposing pitching by scoring five runs to take an 8-7 lead, highlighted by a two-run double by communications sophomore Andy Rodriguez.
William Carey answered with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the eighth to retake the lead. But Trey Fury’s ninth-inning single brought finance sophomore Marc Jaynes home and sent the game into extra innings.
A pitching duel ensued for the next two innings, as relievers from both teams held the opposition scoreless. But in the 12th, the tie was broken, as Miller stole second after reaching base on an error and scored on a misplayed ball hit by Sudyka.
The team could not breath easy as William Carey led off the bottom half of the inning with a Michael Orso triple. But Loyola would retire the next three batters and hold on for the win.
Paul Miller (1-0) pitched four scoreless innings in relief and picked up the win. Veltri and management sophomore Brian Mason led the offense. Veltri went 3-for-6 with two RBIs, while Mason was also 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Beeman was proud of the comeback victory but said his team needs to maintian focus.
“Staying in games hasn’t been a problem for us all year,” Beeman said. “However, learning how to finish strong is something that takes time. The real test will be when we don’t come out on top a couple of times and how the team reacts to that.”
Saturday the Wolfpack played a doubleheader against William Carey. In the first game, the team defeated the Crusaders 3-2. Communications sophomore James Blakeman started on the mound and gave up two runs in 5.2 innings of work in a no decision.
He walked five and struck out five. Brian Sullivan (1-3) collected the win, after retiring four batters. Miller went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
The second game of the doubleheader was blown open by a Jaynes grand slam in the seventh inning, en route to a 8-2 ‘Pack win.
Math senior Brian McCaulley (2-0) got the win, after going 5.2 innings and giving up two runs on eight hits. Sullivan collected his second save of the season, giving up no runs in his 1.1 innings of work.
Brad Rodrigue went 3-for-4 in the contest, while Mason went 2-or-4 and scored twice.
“There is no question it is big. William Carey is a strong team,” Beeman said.
“There is still a lot of baseball to be played, and William Carey still has to come back to our place. It is way too early to get complacent. I believe that the guys on the team understand that.”
Loyola returned home Tuesday night but hit a bump in the road against Southeastern. SLU scored seven runs in the sixth inning on its way to downing Loyola, 15-6.
Loyola only led once in the contest, 2-1 in the third inning, after a Sudyka two-run RBI double.
Management senior Jeb Bauer (0-1) took the loss for the ‘Pack, giving up four runs on six hits in 2.2 innings of play.
Beeman attributes Loyola’s recent success to the team’s mental toughness.
“It is a lot of fun to watch these guys scratch and claw every time out,” he said.
The team faces Mobile today at 2 p.m.
Ryan Arena can be reached at [email protected].
