Eagles Get the 2026 Season Going in Louisiana

New Orleans, La. -  The 2026 Baseball Season got underway on a chilly afternoon for #14 ranked Reinhardt University.  The Eagles almost have a brand new roster after making NAIA postseason play the past two seasons.  New Head Coach Brett Lindsey is in his first season of his young coaching career after stints at Georgia Gwinnett and Reinhardt as an assistant coach.

Reinhardt's first opponent was a rematch from the 2025 NAIA Opening Round co-participant, Loyola University Wolfpack, which played in the Waleska Bracket last May with the Eagles.  The two teams faced off with a doubleheader to start the series and they will repeat with another doubleheader on Friday before the Eagles head back to Waleska.  Day one was all Wolfpack, especially in game one, where the Eagles fell 14-1.  Game two was much closer, but Loyola was able to pull away in the final three innings, winning by four runs, 14-10.

GAME ONE

Reinhardt University struck first but could not slow a relentless Loyola lineup, falling 14-1 in seven innings Thursday afternoon at Segnette Field.

The Eagles grabbed early momentum in the top of the first when Sam Holthaus delivered a single through the right side to drive in Ethan Moore for a 1-0 lead. Loyola answered immediately in the bottom half, tying the game from a double to left and later scored on a wild pitch. From there, Loyola's offense steadily applied pressure, turning a tight opening frame into a lopsided final margin.

A four-run second inning put Reinhardt in chase mode. Loyola turned a 2-1 edge into a 5-1 lead, highlighted by a two-run double from Nathan McDonald to right field. The Eagles' pitching staff was forced to work under constant traffic, as Loyola combined 11 hits with eight walks and five hit batters, while also taking advantage of six Reinhardt errors.

Reinhardt's pitchers were tagged for 14 runs, 10 of them earned, over six innings, as Loyola continued to add on in the middle frames. A run in the fourth extended the margin, and a four-run fifth inning — punctuated by a two-run home run from Jordan McKenzie — pushed the game further out of reach.

Offensively, the Eagles finished with six hits and left six runners on base but could not generate a second breakthrough after the opening inning. Loyola starter Brady Bowen limited the damage, working 5.0 innings and allowing just one run on six hits with three strikeouts and no walks, making it a tough opening game for the Eagles. Reinhardt's Austin Puett got his first start as an Eagle and recorded six strikeouts.

GAME TWO

A six-run fifth inning by Loyola swung the momentum for good as Reinhardt dropped the second of the doubleheader 14-10.

The Eagles erased an early 5-0 deficit and built a five-run lead of their own before Loyola's decisive rally. Trailing 5-0 after two innings, Reinhardt's offense erupted in the third with a five-run frame highlighted by a two-run home run from Sam Holthaus and a solo shot from Brock Sisson to quickly even the score. Ethan Moore then pushed the Eagles in front in the fourth with a solo homer, giving Reinhardt its first lead at 6-5.

Reinhardt appeared to seize control at the top of the fifth. The Eagles strung together quality at-bats in a four-run inning, extending the advantage to 10-5. Moore delivered again with a two-RBI double, and contributions from Cade Chamlee and Aiden Robles helped cap the surge as Reinhardt completed a 10-run stretch over three innings. The Eagles finished with 16 hits, including four doubles and three home runs, and left 11 runners on base.

Loyola answered immediately in the bottom half with the game's turning point. The Wolf Pack put up six runs in the fifth to reclaim the lead, 11-10, behind a two-RBI double and several run-scoring singles that capitalized on traffic created by walks and hits. Loyola added a run in the sixth and two more unearned runs in the eighth when Jovan Swasey reached on an error to extend the margin to 14-10 and put the game out of reach.

Moore led the Eagles' attack, going 3 for 5 with three RBIs, a home run, a double, and two runs scored, factoring into half of Reinhardt's runs. Sisson also collected three hits, including his solo home run in the third, and drove in a run as part of the Eagles' power display. Holthaus' two-run blast provided an early spark during the third-inning comeback as Reinhardt relied on extra-base damage to climb back into the contest.

On the mound, Reinhardt pitchers battled through a high-traffic afternoon. Logan Lynch got his first start of the season after having a nice 2025 spring season. However, his season debut was on the rough side as he gave up 12 hits and 8 runs of 4.1 innings. Loyola finished with 19 hits and 14 runs, 12 of them earned, while the Eagles' staff struck out eight and walked six over eight innings. Reinhardt needed 191 pitches, 120 for strikes, as Loyola continued to apply pressure throughout the game and took advantage of the Eagles' lone error in the eighth for the final two runs. In total, the Eagles had five pitchers with time on the mound.

Despite the loss, the performance at the plate in game two provided encouraging signs for Reinhardt early in the season. The lineup is brand new, so players will start to gel as the season progresses and the pitchers get into their grooves, which should see the Eagles start matching their preseason expectations as the fourteenth team in the country.  Reinhardt will get an early start tomorrow, playing game one of the final doubleheader at 12 pm EST with the second game immediately following. Loyola is a great test early in the season for the Eagles so they have an idea of where they are and where they are going.

 photo courtesy of Hunter Paulsen, Grad Assistant Photographer