Loyola's pitching staff shut down one of the top offenses in the country for their highest ranked win since March 31, 2017
WESTWEGO, La. – In a weekday doubleheader with the fourth-ranked Freed-Hardeman Lions, the Loyola University New Orleans baseball team picked up two huge victories, claiming game one 4-2 before picking up the 7-2 win in game two.
The Lions (27-9) were first to jump into the run column, pouncing on the Wolf Pack (15-18) for two runs in the first inning of game one. That would be all they could squeeze out of Loyola, as the home starter Gary Cavallo Jr. held the 14th-ranked team in the NAIA in total runs scored off the board the remainder of the game.
The bats would put the Pack out in front in the bottom of the third inning, with Luke LaCoste scoring on a single from Brandon Wilson Jr. before Allen Dennis connected on a 3-1 pitch and sent it towering over the leftfield wall. With two runners on base for the first baseman, Loyola would take a 4-2 lead, a score they would hold for the remainder of the seven-inning contest.
The Wolf Pack carried their momentum from the game-one victory into the second, as Dennis singled to left field in the first inning to bring Jase Biehl across home plate. After Chandler Strader slapped a triple to deep right field, Patrick Chen See bunted the freshman outfielder in to make it a 2-0 game.
In the fifth inning, Loyola blew the game open with a bases-loaded walk drawn by Dennis and a single to left field from Michael Toscano scoring Patrick Crifasi. Two more runs would score in the inning to make it a 5-0 game, with Toscano driving in a pair of runs in the following inning on another outfield single.
While the Lions would record only their second hit and score their only two runs of the game in the final inning, the Pack held on for the doubleheader sweep, their two highest ranked victories since defeating No. 1 Faulkner 5-3 on March 31, 2017.
Loyola will look to continue rolling against another tough opponent this weekend, as they return to their conference schedule and head to Montgomery, Ala. to face No. 2 Faulkner, beginning with a 6 p.m. game on Friday, March 29.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Doug Faust
"We played really well in all three aspects today. I thought we pitched really well, played good defense, swung the bats well, but more importantly, got timely hits tonight. All four runs in the first game were two-out RBIs, and that's what we've been searching for. I told the guys after the game, we didn't change anything, we didn't practice anything differently from the last game to this game, I just asked them to relax. Hopefully getting a couple of hits will allow them to relax moving forward. Freed-Hardeman is a really good ream, coming off of a great year last year, they're having a great year again this year, but if we play baseball and do the little things right, you never know, you have a chance. We played well tonight, so I'm proud of the guys."
Pack Facts
Loyola's two hits allowed in game two of the day tie their mark for the fewest on the season, after holding Dakota State to a pair of hits on March 4.
Allen Dennis continued his dominating play at the plate today, extending his hitting streak to seven games after going a combined 3-6 with a double, a home run and five RBI on the day.
The sophomore is now tied for eighth for most home runs in a single season at Loyola, with eight big-flies on the year.
After going 2-4 with 3 RBI in game two, Michael Toscano pushed his hitting streak to nine games.
Now riding a seven-game hit streak, Jase Biehl swiped two bags today, and has a team-best 13 this season.
Gary Cavallo Jr. was dominant in game one on the mound, after allowing just one earned run in the first inning, he held the Lions to just three hits and no runs the final six frames.
You can keep up with the Pack this season by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
