With the season just under way, the Wolfpack (4-6) will be looking to improve upon the details of the game to lead them to more wins.

As the newly-formatted bats slow down production at the plate, the areas of focus for the team moves to the defensive execution. Head coach Gerald Cassard said while he hasn’t been completely disappointed with the defense, there is still room for improvement.

“We were average. Obviously, we need to get better,” he said. “There were a couple of botched double plays and we made some errors, which is normal for the beginning of the season.” Through 10 games, Loyola fielders have made 14 errors and have only had two errorless games so far.

It is not just the defense that is struggling to find its rhythm. Wolfpack pitching has shown the ability to keep batters off balance at times. General studies business junior George Smith has the lowest ERA on the team with 3.60 and is also leading the team in strikeouts with 11. However the team has a 6.26 ERA overall, while opponent pitching has an ERA of only 4.15.

Cassard said that pitching, along with inexperience, were two of the main problems that led to Loyola getting swept by Judson University in four games.

“We didn’t pitch effectively,” he said. “Loyola gave up 37 runs to Judson over the four-game set. He continued by saying, “Judson is a veteran team, with a very good pitching staff. We are only returning four players with significant playing experience. We need to overcome a lot of youth and inexperience.”

After a disappointing four-game sweep at home to Judson, Loyola swept both legs of a double-header against the University of Mobile on Feb. 8. Cassard said that to continue getting quality wins like the team will need to eliminate walks. Loyola pitching issued only one walk during the double-header. And though the team is yet to hit a home run in their first 10 games, Loyola found ways to score runs in both games winning 7-5 and 5-2.

“Offensively, we need to execute with runners in scoring position,” Cassard said, when talking about the importance of manufacturing runs without the instant offense a home run can bring. “We also need to put a big emphasis on developing our young players.” Out of the 40 players listed on the roster, the ‘Pack has 27 underclassmen.

Hasani Grayson can be reached at [email protected]