Box Score The Loyola Wolf Pack broke a 2-2 tie late in Tuesday's contest at Louisiana College to earn their 31st win of the season
PINEVILLE, La. – The 15th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack started their final week of the regular season on a good note Tuesday, defeating Louisiana College 8-2 on the road. The win moves the Pack to 31-11 overall this season with three games left on their schedule before next week's conference tournament.
Loyola, which sits in first place in the Southern States Athletic Conference standings, is set to close out the regular season later this week, hosting Blue Mountain College for a three-game series Thursday and Friday. There's a doubleheader scheduled to start at 2 p.m. on Thursday, followed by Game 3 of the SSAC series slated for a 2 p.m. start Friday.
The Wolf Pack got the scoring started with two runs in the second inning, loading the bases with one out. Peyton Lacoste led things off with a single, followed by a double from Kason Cullins to quickly put two in scoring position. After a strikeout, Christopher Bohrer walked to load the bases, then Patrick Crifasi's single to left field gave Loyola an early 2-0 lead.
The Wildcats, though, scored lone runs in the third and fourth innings to tie the game, as the Wolf Pack were held off the board until they put a crooked number up in the seventh. Loyola used small-ball to score the inning's first run, as Crifasi, who led off with a single, was moved to second after Gabriel Trastoy's sacrifice bunt. Payton Alexander singled during the next at-bat to put the Pack up 3-2, and Michael Calamari's single set up Allen Dennis' three-run home run to extend the advantage to 6-2.
Loyola added insurance runs in the final two frames to really put the game out of reach. Trastoy picked up an RBI in the eighth inning, padding the Wolf Pack's lead, 7-2, after his double scored Bohrer. Then in the ninth, Bohrer brought home Cullins off a sacrifice fly to make it an 8-2 ballgame.
Reid Perkins got the start on the bump for Loyola, pitching the first two innings with two strikeouts and no runs allowed. Matthew Villa pitched the next two innings, as he allowed the two runs - one earned - with a strikeout before handing the ball to Wyatt Lankford, who pitched the next four innings to earn the win. Lankford struck out three Louisiana College batters and allowed just one hit, as he faced just one over the minimum. Michael Toscano closed the door in the ninth inning.
Pack Facts
After his performance against the Wildcats, Allen Dennis moved up in three different categories in the program's record book. Dennis hit his 10th home run of the season, tying him for fourth in a single season, and Dennis' three RBI Tuesday puts him at 49 this season, which is seventh in a single season. Career wise, Dennis's five at-bats in the game gives him 575 for his career, and that's good enough for 10th all-time.
Paton Alexander entered the Top 10 for most RBI in a single season in the program's history, picking up one Tuesday to bring his total to 45. That ties him at 10th.
Dennis also collected two hits in the contest, giving him 15 multi-hit games this season. Alexander, Peyton Lacoste and Gabriel Trastoy all had multiple hits as well, and that's Alexander's 18th this season, Lacsote's 14th and Trastoy's seventh.
Alexander also extended his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 16 after his performance Tuesday.
Michael Calamari notched a hit against Louisiana College, extending his on-base streak to 14 straight games.
Wyatt Lankford's four innings on the mound tied his season-high, earning his second win of the season in the process.
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