No. 9 Wolf Pack, (RV) ABAC split Friday’s doubleheader

TIFTON, Ga. – The ninth-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team made the trip to Tifton, Georgia, for a three-game series at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. The series began with a doubleheader on Friday, as the Pack and (RV) ABAC split the two games to set up a rubber match on Saturday. 
 

Loyola lost the first game 8-2 to the Stallions, but it bounced back in Game 2 for a 4-2 win. The Wolf Pack (16-7, 3-2) and ABAC (15-8, 2-3) will meet back up on Saturday for a 12 p.m. CST series-deciding match up. 
 

Game 1: (RV) ABAC 8, #9 Loyola 2 (7)

Michael Hotard struck out six and allowed four hits in his 3.1 innings on the mound, but two defensive errors led to seven unearned runs during his time on the mound. ABAC scored five runs in the second and two more in the fourth to jump out to its 7-1 lead. 
 

Jovan Swasey picked up an RBI in the third inning to make it a 5-1 ballgame before the Stallions scored again in the fourth, and Drew Lee had an RBI single in the fifth to bring the score to 7-2. The Wolf Pack left base runners stranded in all seven innings, including an inning-ending bases-loaded double play in the fourth. 
 

Abraham Baldwin added a run in the sixth to bring the game to its final, 8-2, as the hosts narrowly outhit the Pack, 8-7. 
 

Game 2: #9 Loyola 4, (RV) ABAC 2

Loyola played much better defense and got a solid start on the mound from Brady Bowen to help even the series. Bowen pitched the first four innings while only giving up two hits with five strikeouts before a lightning delay shortened his outing. 
 

The Wolf Pack scored runs in the second, third, and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead before the stoppage of play. A Jaxon Buratt sacrifice fly scored Tanner Powell, who tripled during the at-bat prior, put Loyola ahead 1-0 in the second. Nathan McDonald ended his month-long home run-less streak with a solo shot in the third, 2-0, and Reed Duthu picked up an RBI single in the fourth to score Powell again, 3-0. 
 

Frank Fernandez got the win after pitching the next 3.1 innings after the delay. He retired the side in order in the fifth before allowing two earned runs in the sixth. He made quick work of the Stallions in the seventh before handing the ball to Jake Cohen in the eighth after a strikeout and a walk. He finished with four strikeouts while giving up just two hits. Cohen struck out the first three batters he faced, then got a lineout and a flyout to face the minimum in another save opportunity.  
 

Kash Koontz earned his first collegiate RBI in the sixth, 4-0, before ABAC scored its two runs in the bottom half of the frame. 
 

Pack Facts

• Brady Bowen gave up just two hits while keeping the Stallions scoreless over the first four innings with a season-high five strikeouts. His career strikeout total is now up to 217. 

• Frank Fernandez pitched a career-high 3.1 innings in his second win of the season. The junior now has a 6-1 career record. 

• Jake Cohen kept up his streak of saves and has now earned a save in six consecutive games. Just seven pitching appearances into the season, Cohen needs just one more save to tie the single-season record at Loyola, which is held by Caden Durand and two others. 

• Nathan McDonald hit his team-leading fifth home run of the season in Game 2 Friday, as well as his fifth double of the season in Game 1. 

• Jovan Swasey went 2-for-4 in each game on Friday.

• McDonald and Swasey are now tied for the team lead this season with 27 hits apiece. 

• Drew Lee went 3-for-3 with an RBI in Game 1 while Reed Duthu also went 3-for-3 in Game 2. 

• Tanner Powell hit a triple in Game 2 on Friday. After registering his first hit of the season last Saturday, Powell has now had hits in three of the last four games for the Pack.