Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Wolf Pack won both doubleheaders over the weekend to earn their 15th win of the season
WESTWEGO – The Loyola Wolf Pack swept a doubleheader with Rust College for the second consecutive day Sunday, earning a 17-0 win to start the afternoon and a 7-2 victory to cap off the series.
Loyola (15-4) is back at Segnette Field next weekend to open Southern States Athletic Conference play with Middle Georgia State. There will be a Friday night doubleheader at 4 p.m. before playing Game 3 of the series 1 p.m. Saturday.
Game 1: Loyola 17, Rust College 0 (5 innings)
After Rust College stranded a runner at third base to start the game, Loyola scored 12 runs in the bottom of the first to set the tone for the game. The Wolf Pack used eight hits and seven free bases (six walks and two hit batters) to score the 12 runs, then added five more in the third to really put the game away.
Brandon Duhon and Zach Cook led off the first with back-to-back hit by pitches, then both stole second to quickly put runners in scoring position with no outs. Loyola actually sent 15 batters to the plate before getting out. Payton Alexander scored the first two runs off a single to right, and Allen Dennis scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat. Jase Biehl picked up an RBI, then Nathan Law scored two on a single to right to give Loyola a 6-0 lead. Aaron Davis, Duhon and Cook all picked up RBI in consecutive at-bats, and Loyola plated three more runs in the frame to grab the commanding 12-0 lead.
Loyola went scoreless in the second inning but added a five-spot in the third. The Wolf Pack had four hits in the inning, as Davis, Cook and Alexander all had RBI base hits and Dennis and Duhon walked with the bases loaded. Davis hit an infield single to score the first run of the inning, Cook's single right-center made it 15-0, and Alexander's single to left ended Loyola's scoring at 17-0.
Matthew Champagne got the start for the Wolf Pack and pitched four shutout, no-hit innings with five strikeouts. He didn't walk a batter but he did hit one during his outing, and Brett Fisackerly pitched the final inning and recorded a strikeout. Champagne hit the first batter he saw in the game, then retired 12 in a row before handing the ball to Fisackerly.
Game 2: Loyola 7, Rust College 2
Leading off the next game, Duhon and Cook once again accounted for the first two runs of the contest in the second half of Sunday's doubleheader. Duhon reached on a bunt, adding another stolen base and eventually scoring with a home run from Cook.
Loyola added another run in the bottom of the second inning to go up 2-0, with Landon Trosclair driven in by a single to right field from Davis.
Rust College would not be shut out, putting up their first runs of the series in the top of the third after three-straight hits, cutting the home lead to 3-2.
The Bearcats then held the Pack scoreless for the next two innings, but Loyola would get the bats going again in the bottom of the fifth. Dennis led off the inning with a double, and after stealing third, eventually was driven in off a bunt down the first baseline by Crifasi, who also got on base. Crifasi was brought home by a single from Trosclair, who collected his second hit of the game.
Loyola added two more insurance runs in the sixth to make it a 7-2 game. Cook and Dennis picked up RBI off a single and a sacrifice fly, respectively.
Michael Toscano got the start on the bump, and he struck out four while giving up two earned runs on five hits in his four innings of work to earn the win. Gary Cavallo Jr. pitched the next two innings of three-hit ball before Alexander Acevedo allowed just one hit in the seventh inning. Cavallo picked up a strikeout during his outing, and Acevedo struck out two in his inning on the mound.
On pitching this weekend: "We did a really good job of throwing strikes, competing and mixing pitches. We played good defense behind the pitchers; they did an outstanding job. We just competed and stayed in the zone."
On the team's offensive approach: "I thought it was really good. Sometimes in games like that, it's easy to start getting big and hit lazy fly balls but we didn't do that. We hit the ball hard consistently and I thought we did a pretty good job of protecting the zone as it got bigger when the games got out of hand. The base running was outstanding, and that's a huge weapon for us. That continues to get better and better."
Pack Facts
Loyola scored 10 runs in an inning for the second time in the last three games after doing so in Game 1 Saturday and Game 3 Sunday. The Wolf Pack scored 10 runs in the fourth Saturday and the first Sunday.
Loyola's pitching staff added another shutout Sunday in Game 1, the eighth of the season, and it now has a team ERA of 2.00. That's good for second in the NAIA.
With seven stolen bases in Game 1 and 13 in Game 2, Loyola remains on top of the NAIA in total stolen bases with 99 for the year so far.
The 13 stolen bases in Game 2 also surpasses the previous record for the most swiped bags in the Dakstats era, which dates back to 2004.
Brandon Duhon continues to lead the NAIA in total steals, adding one in the opening game and a season-high five in the second game. He now has 31 stolen bases this season, which is fourth in a single-season by a Loyola player.
Payton Alexander recorded five hits in Sunday's doubleheader, which led Loyola. In the process, he extended his hitting streak to 10 games, and his on-base streak to 19 games.
Alexander also swiped three bases in the two games Sunday, giving him 35 for his career. That ties him for seventh all-time in Loyola's history.
Zach Cook's two-run homer in the beginning of Game 2 was his third-career home run, and his first since the 2018 season. Cook led the Wolf Pack with five RBI between the two games on Sunday.
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
