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Baseball Hawks complete three-game sweep of Loyola
By Matt Green
NEW ORLEANS -- Shorter University completed the weekend sweep of Southern States Athletic Conference foe Loyola University by taking both of a Saturday doubleheader with the Wolfpack, 15-0 and 9-3, in New Orleans.
In the first game of the day, Ryan Newell tossed a complete-game, two-hit shutout while Shorter's offense racked up 17 hits en route to the 15-0 victory.
Bobby Triglia went 3-for-4 with four RBI and Blake McCullers and Willie Lewis had three RBI apiece for Shorter, which led 5-0 after two innings and put the game away with a five-run fifth.
Shorter (13-5, 4-2) got off to a fast start and never let up. Triglia hit an RBI double and Lewis an RBI single in the first to put Shorter up 2-0. Dadynoel Lorenzo added an RBI single, Triglia was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and McCullers hit a sacrifice fly to extend Shorter's lead to 5-0 in the second.
Cal Hardie ignited Shorter's five-run fifth with a two-run single, Triglia added a two-run single of his own several batters later and Lewis rounded out Shorter's fifth inning scoring with an RBI base hit that put the Hawks up 11-0.
Shorter added four insurance runs in the seventh to complete the rout. Shorter's top five batters -- Lorenzo, Antonio Walcott, Triglia, McCullers and Lewis -- went a combined 11-for-15 with nine runs and 11 RBI to lead the way.
Newell got 14 more runs than he needed. He struck out nine batters in a dominant performance and now has 43 strikeouts in 31 innings. Newell, who notched his first career shutout with the Hawks, improved to 5-0 with the win.
In Game 2, Mike Miranda hit two homers -- his third and fourth of the season -- and Bud Fuller got the win after tossing 3.1 innings of no-hit relief as Shorter prevailed 9-3 to secure the three-game sweep.
Miranda's first homer came as part of Shorter's three-run sixth and was a two-run shot to left that tied the game at 3. Hunter Smith walked, advanced to third on Kendall Lacey's double, then scored on an error by Loyola shortstop Harold Toscano to put the Hawks up 4-3.
Lewis' RBI groundout in the seventh extended Shorter's lead to 5-3 and Kurtis Robinson stroked a two-run single in the eighth to make it 7-3. Miranda put the game away with his second home run of the game, another two-run shot to left, in the ninth and Stuart Charleston retired Loyola 1-2-3 in the ninth with the help of two strikeouts.
Miranda finished 2-for-5 with four RBI in Game 2 and McCullers continued his hot streak with four more hits. Lacey also went 4-for-5 with two doubles for Shorter, which totaled 13 hits in the nightcap.
Fuller entered for starter Chad Hodges in the fifth and was lights out. He worked out of a jam in the fifth by getting Toscano to fly out with runners on first and third, then worked perfect sixth, seventh and eighth innings to keep the Wolfpack (9-8, 1-5) at bay.
Shorter returns home to the Robert H. Ledbetter Baseball Complex on Tuesday, Feb. 28 when it takes on Talladega College in a doubleheader beginning at 1 pm.
