Loyola wins game one of the day 11-3 but drops game two 9-3, winning their final conference series at home two games to one
WESTWEGO, La. – Taking the field for their final day of conference play at home, the Loyola University New Orleans baseball team defeated Stillman College 11-3 in game one before falling 9-3 in game two in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Segnette Field.
The visiting Tigers (9-24, 2-19 SSAC) were first to cross home plate in game one of the day, plating one in the top of the third inning. The Wolf Pack (19-27, 3-18 SSAC) drew the game even however, with Patrick Crifasi drawing a leadoff walk before coming in to score on a ground out.
After starter Gary Cavallo Jr. held Stillman in check in the top of the fourth, the Loyola bats gave the Pack a cushion in the bottom of the frame. With two quick outs to lead it off, Michael Toscano reached on a single before Luke LaCoste slapped a triple to deep left-center field and gave the home team a 2-1 advantage. After Crifasi reached on a walk, Zachary Cook singled to shortstop to bring in LaCoste, with Jase Biehl extending his hitting streak on a two-run double to left field, giving the Wolf Pack a 5-1 lead.
While the visitors added one run in the top of the sixth, Loyola jumped out even further with a six-run inning, capped off by a two-run bomb from Allen Dennis to left field. Stillman would score one run in the top of the seventh and final inning, setting the final score at 11-3 in favor of Loyola.
Game two of the day started off the same as the first, with Stillman plating the first run, this time in the top of the opening inning. While Loyola evened the score after Biehl drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Charlie Seiter, the visitors would score four-unanswered in the third, fourth and fifth innings to take a 5-1 lead. The Wolf Pack scored two more runs, bringing their total to three after a solo home run by Gabriel Trastoy in the seventh inning, but would ultimately fall 9-3.
Loyola will wrap up their home schedule next week with a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon with Tougaloo beginning at 4 p.m. at Segnette Field.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Doug Faust
"In game one, Gary pitched really well for us like he has in the past. We hit the ball well in the first game, took advantage of the mistakes they gave us, but then we had some big hits to blow it open."
"In game two, the frustrating thing is that we had their pitcher on the ropes in the second inning. We got the bases loaded, but he got out of it, and then for the rest of the game he was on cruise control. Stillman has some guys who can swing the bat and they got some big hits in game two which helped extend the lead from us and let their pitcher settle down a little bit. Our chance to get that last game was to get to their pitcher in the second or third inning, but we let him settle in, and he started feeling good about himself. Overall, it was a good series, we won two out of three. It's always a bitter taste when you lose the third game, but big picture you won two out of three and that's what you try to do every weekend."
Pack Facts
Once again, Jase Biehl extended his hitting streak today to 16 games, going 2-7 from the plate with a double, walk, and four RBI.
Gary Cavallo Jr. got the start in game one, tossing six innings while allowing just two runs and striking out five to earn his third win of the season.
In game two of the day, Gabriel Trastoy got the start behind the plate, connecting on his first career home run in the seventh inning.
Trastoy became the sixth member of the Wolf Pack to hit it over the fence this year.
The team leader in homers, Allen Dennis slapped his ninth big-fly of the season over the leftfield wall in game one.
The sophomore now has 15 career home runs, which ties him for the seventh-most in a career at Loyola.
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.
