This year’s Wolfpack baseball team is looking for its first winning season since 2000 with the start of a new season Jan. 30 at William Carey University.
The ‘Pack’s first day in action yielded mixed results as they played a double header to open the season at Segnette Field in Westwego, La. The first game ended with Loyola sliding by with a 9-8 victory.
The batting lineup got off to a quick start as the ‘Pack scored three runs in first inning and six runs in the second. Leading the game 9-3 going into the top of the sixth, Loyola gave up five runs after starter Mike Kelly, marketing senior, left the game. Pitcher Carl Labit, marketing senior, had a rough outing in the sixth; he gave up four earned runs on five hits and a walk in two innings. With the lead cut to one the bullpen was able to quiet William Carey’s bats for the rest of the game to preserve the victory.
The second leg of the double header heavily favored William Carey as they blacked out Loyola 17-0. The only hit that Loyola bats could muster was a single from Kelly, who was playing as the designated hitter. The Wolfpack also hurt themselves when they committed five errors in the game. Starting pitcher George Smith, general business studies sophomore, was hit with the loss for Loyola as Ian Sharp took home the win for William Carney.
Despite an up and down start to the season pitching wise, head coach Gerald Cassard is optimistic about the young arms on his pitching staff.
“We’re excited about right handed pitcher, Carl Labit,” Cassard said. He said he also hopes that mass communication freshman pitcher Richard Dempsey can be a solid arm as the team moves forward.
Third base coach and associate athletic director Brett Simspon also praised the pitching after winning two games out of a three game series on the road at the University of Mobile. Though he originally cited offense as the team’s strength he gave praise to the pitching staff after the Series in Mobile.
“Our pitching was really good this past weekend. I don’t know if we have a true strength especially if the pitching keeps performing like it did the past three games,” Simpson said. He added that the series in Mobile that “if it was not the first time we won a series over there it was the first time in a long time so we are excited about that.”
Both coaches have also said that hitting will be a strong point this year.
“We’re not a home run hitting team. But we’ll hit a lot of balls in the gap and score some runs,” Cassard said.
Simpson said that the upperclassman in the lineup will also be a factor in the team’s offensive production. “The top five guys in our lineup are older and more seasoned and have experience.”
To help improve the ball club, the ‘Pack has added many new pieces to the puzzle to help turn things around. “We added 15 new guys (this year) and we added 15 new guys (last year) so over the past two years, we have added 30 new guys,” said Simpson.
“I think our best asset is our chemistry,” he said “I think we have a good mix of young and old and they are doing what it takes to win.”
Both coaches are putting an emphasis on hard work and effort to make the Wolfpack a legitimate threat in conference.
“When you play hard every game every pitch a lot of the time the results take care of themselves,” Simpson said.
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