LSUS draws William Carey first in GCAC tournament 04/29/02

NEW ORLEANS – The LSUS Pilots rumbled in to the Crescent City Friday with still a hint of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference title wafting in the air. The Loyola University Wolfpack, however, blew the faint aroma away by taking two of the three weekend games, leaving three teams to share second place in the conference.

The Pilots shut out the Wolfpack Friday night, 6-0, but lost both ends of the double-header Saturday, 4-1 and 3-2. The losses dropped LSUS into a three-way tie for second place with Loyola and the University of Mobile in the final regular-season GCAC standings. Saturday’s wins also assured Loyola of a spot in the conference tournament.

Meanwhile, in Hattiesburg, Miss., William Carey College walked away with GCAC regular season championship by handing Talladega College the final three of its 30 conference losses Friday and Saturday. At the same time, drama was unfolding in Mobile, as cross-town rivals Spring Hill College and Mobile took identical 15-12 records to their season-ending “Battle of the Port City.” The winner of that three-game series would grab the remaining seed in the conference tournament, but Mobile sealed the deal with a sweep, leaving defending conference champion Spring Hill sitting at home for the post-season.

William Carey, 21-9 (31-20 overall), finished three games ahead of 18-12 LSUS (34-26, an all-time high for wins in a season), Loyola (27-29) and Mobile (28-26). Spring Hill, 15-15 (25-30), and Talladega, 0-30 (6-37), round out the six-team conference.

The four-team GCAC Conference Tournament begins Wednesday in Hattiesburg. The tournament seeds are: 1. William Carey; 2. Mobile; 3. Loyola, and 4. LSUS. Mobile and Loyola will square off at 2 p.m., with LSUS and William Carey slated to begin at 6 p.m. The rest of the schedule in the double-elimination tournament is currently being worked out, according to Chuck Knight, of the GCAC.

Since April 5, Mobile has an 11-2 conference record (.846), and LSUS has taken nine of 12 (.750). William Carey has managed only 6-7 (.462) in the conference in the past three week, while Loyola has struggled to 5-7 (.417).

In the six-game, round-robin conference season, LSUS has a winning record against William Carey (4-2), Spring Hill (4-2) and Talladega (6-0), split with Mobile, and recorded its only regular-season win against Loyola Friday.