A Loyola baseball trio is already on top of conference leader boards, but with eight games to go in the season, they’re trying to make it to the top of the school record books as well.
Brian Mason, who leads the conference with a .429 batting average, Joshua Borges, who is tied for the lead in the conference with 11 home runs, and Kevin Fontenot, who leads the conference with 37 stolen bases, continued to rip up the record books while being swept by William Carey, 7-2, 17-7 and 6-3, as each is now on pace to break school records.
In the first game of the series, accounting senior Brian Mason’s only hit was a historic one. It was his 227th career hit, passing Doug Neil for the No. 1 spot on the single season hits list in Loyola history.
“It feels great. You know Doug Neil, who is Paul Neil’s older brother, was a great hitter,” Mason said. “I’ve always heard good things about his hitting and just to be up there with him is a great feeling.”
With his .429 batting average, Mason is chasing another record: Mike Ceravolo’s 2000 campaign, in which he hit .398.
“Breaking the hits record will definitely help my confidence going into the following games and hopefully help me remain consistent to break the batting average record,” Mason said.
He said that the team has encouraged him all season.
“I hit a lot with my friend Todd (Hubbel), and we work on our swings and try to make each other better,” Mason said.
In the second game of the series, Borges, management junior, went 2-4 with three runs batted in. He, too, had a historic hit: a home run that tied the Loyola single season record, which stands at 11, set by Chad Stouder in 2001. This vaulted him to earning the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week Award.
“It feels great to do something so accomplishing. I’ve worked so hard to be at the level that I’m at now, and to accomplish this feels good,” Borges said.
Borges is also on pace to breaking Ceravolo’s batting average record. Borges is hitting .408, 10 points higher than the record.
He said that his focus and experience are big reasons for his power surge, but he has also been seeing the ball very well.
“I guess it’s fun when the ball is coming in there looking like beach balls,” he said.
Along with Mason and Borges, Kevin Fontenot, physics junior, is another player chasing an individual record. He has 37 stolen bases, which is three away from the school record of 40, set by John Wellmeyer in 1993. Fontenot has plenty of time to break the record, with eight games left before the GCAC playoffs.
“Baseball is a team game, but it’s also an individual game. When you have three guys excelling in different areas (it) is an amazing feat,” head coach Gerald Cassard said. “The fact that these three players are having this success, it adds competition between the three, which I think has brought out the best in them. It’s helped motivate other guys.
“And you know, success breeds success.”
Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected].
