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Box Score 2 The 15th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack traveled to Cochran, Georgia, this weekend to play No. 11 Middle Georgia State in a three-game SSAC series, splitting Friday's doubleheader with the Knights
COCHRAN, Ga. – The Loyola University New Orleans baseball team hit the road this weekend to play in a Top 15 matchup with No. 11 Middle Georgia State. In a Friday doubleheader, No. 15 Loyola split the two games with the Knights, setting up a rubber match Saturday at noon.
MGA started the day with a 5-2 win over the Pack, but Loyola evened the series with a 12-5 win in Game 2. The day's results moved the Wolf Pack to 29-10 overall and 12-2 in Southern States Athletic Conference play, while the Knights will enter Saturday's Game 3 28-12 and 10-4.
Game 1: #11 Middle Georgia State 5, #15 Loyola 2 (7)
It was a pitchers' duel through the first five innings in Game 1 of the doubleheader, with six of the game's seven runs scoring in the sixth inning. John Blanchard III made his normal Game 1 start and struck out eight batters in his five-plus innings of work. He also gave up two earned runs off four hits to pick up a no-decision. Blanchard struck out the side in the first frame and had five through the first two innings before the Knights took a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
Loyola's offense was held to a hit each in the first and third innings, but it didn't string together hits until plating two runs in the top of the sixth. With two outs, Payton Alexander was hit by a pitch and Michael Calamari singled to quickly put two runners on base for Allen Dennis. Back-to-back wild pitches tied the game, then Dennis found a hole through the left side of the MGA infield to score pinch-runner Aaron Davis and give the Wolf Pack a 2-1 lead.
The Knights, however, answered with four runs off five hits in the bottom half of the frame, then they retired the Wolf Pack in order to win the seven-inning contest.
Game 2: No. 15 Loyola 12, No. 11 Middle Georgia State 5
The Wolf Pack used a couple of home runs to take an early 4-0 lead on the Knights through three innings. Alexander put Loyola on the board in the opening frame with a solo homer, then Peyton Lacoste's three-run blast two innings later made it a four-run advantage. Calamari got in on the action, too, homering with nobody on base in the fifth inning to give Loyola a 5-2 lead, and back-to-back doubles by Dennis and Lacoste during the next two at-bats pushed the score to 6-2.
MGA added lone runs in the next three innings, getting as close as 6-3, but the Wolf Pack plated five runs during that time while adding one more in the ninth for insurance to keep a multi-run lead. It all started with four runs in the seventh inning, extending the lead to 10-3. Alexander, Dennis and Luke LaCoste all picked up RBI in the frame, and Peyton Lacoste scored the fourth run off a wild pitch. A Calamari groundout scored Patrick Crifasi in the eighth inning made it 11-4, Loyola, then a double steal in the ninth inning, scoring Luke LaCoste, gave the Pack a commanding 12-5 lead.
Stephen Still started Game 2 and earned the win in his 5.1-inning performance. The freshman struck out five and allowed three runs - two earned - on six hits, pitching around trouble in two innings. After allowing one baserunner in each of the first two frames, Still pitched out of a two-runner in the scoring position jam with one out in the third inning, recording two strikeouts to end the threat. The Knights got to Still in the fifth, however, but he limited the damage and pitched a clean fifth inning before handing the ball to Alexander Acevedo.
Acevedo covered the next 2.2 innings and allowed two earned runs off four hits with a strikeout, then Wyatt Lankford entered to pitch with two on and no outs in the ninth inning. Lankford struck out the only three MGA batters he faced to end the game and even the series.
Pack Facts
John Blanchard III struck out eight in the first game Friday, earning a new career-high.
Stephen Still's five strikeouts in Game 2 marked the fourth time this season with at least that many.
Payton Alexander notched three hits in the two games, recording two in Game 2 for his 16th multi-hit game of the season. That also gives him a seven-game hit streak to go along with his 13-game on-base streak.
Alexander's home run in Game 2 was his eighth of the season, which is tied for ninth in a single season for a Loyola hitter, and it was Alexander's 14th career home run, moving him to 10th all-time. Alexander also scored his 50th run this season and the 113th of his career Friday, which is tied for third in a single season and eighth all-time, respectively.
With four hits in the two games, Allen Dennis now has 170 for his career to move him to 10th in Loyola's history. Dennis also tallied his 13th multi-hit game of the season with three hits in Game 2.
Michael Calamari also had three hits in Game 2, marking his 15th multi-hit game and moving his on-base streak to 11 games.
Calamari's home run Friday was the fifth of the season, which is third on the team.
Peyton Lacoste's home run was his third of the season, and all three have come in the last 13 days. His four RBI in Game 2 is a season-high as well.
Luke LaCoste recorded three stolen bases in Loyola's win, and that ties a career-high for the senior. LaCoste also had three stolen bases in his collegiate debut against Rust College on Feb. 2, 2018.
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.
