Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Loyola Wolf Pack has now won 13 of their last 14 games, and they're 10-3 against Top 25 teams after Saturday's series-winning victory over No. 5 Faulkner.
WESTWEGO – The 22nd-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack took down another Top 25 opponent this weekend, splitting Saturday's doubleheader with No. 5 Faulkner to win the three-game series. After Friday night's 10-6 win, the Wolf Pack dropped the first game Saturday 4-3 before ending the series finale in eight innings with a 14-4, run-rule victory.
The win moves Loyola to 23-9 overall and 8-1 in Southern States Athletic Conference play, and it's now 10-3 against Top 25-ranked teams this season.
Game 1: No. 5 Faulkner 4, No. 22 Loyola 3 (7)
In the first game of the day, Faulkner scored all of its runs in the second inning after Payton Alexander hit a solo home run in the first inning. Trailing 4-1 in the fourth inning, Peyton Lacoste made it 4-3 with a two-run home run with Michael Calamari on base. The Wolf Pack had chances in the late innings, leaving two runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings.
After the Eagles scored the four innings in the second, Trace Messina III and Alexander Acevedo combined to shut out Faulkner in the final four innings to give Loyola's offense a shot.
Game 2: No. 22 Loyola 14, No. 4 Faulkner (8)
After Faulkner took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Payton Alexander was walked with one out, then reached third after a stolen base and an error on the Eagles' pitcher. Alexander tied the game during the next at-bat when Calamari grounded out to second. Faulkner scored two more in the fifth inning to make it a 3-1 game before Loyola's bats got hot.
The Wolf Pack put up 13 runs combined in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, putting the 10-run-rule into effect in the eighth inning. Crifasi cut the Eagles' lead to 3-2 with a solo shot in the fifth inning, then the Wolf Pack scored four more runs in the sixth inning with two outs. Brandon Duhon had a two-RBI single, then Loyola used a double-steal to plate the inning's third run before Duhon scored off a Crifasi double to give Loyola a 6-3 lead.
Calamari led off the seventh inning with a double to get things started, and pinch-runner Zach Cook scored three batters later after a Ross Selvaggi single. Gabriel Trastoy walked during the next at-bat to load the bases, then two more walks pushed the Pack's advantage to 9-3. Pinch-runner Aaron Davis made it 10-3 after a wild pitch.
Faulkner plated one run in the top of the eighth, but Loyola used four walks and a hit to score four more runs to end the game early.
Loyola starting pitcher Brenden Taravella pitched around trouble throughout the first four innings, stranding seven Faulkner runners during that time. Taravella struck out four and allowed three runs - two earned - on seven hits during his five-inning outing before handing the ball to Mathew Champagne. The Luling native struck out one and allowed one run off three hits in three innings to earn the win.
On the series win over No. 5 Faulkner:
"It's satisfying because we've been doing the work. We've highlighted this series for a while now, and we didn't get it last year because of COVID, so I'm just proud of the guys. They just executed what we're working on and what we're talking about. They're doing it together and it's not just one person. It's a team effort and it's just fun to watch."
On the offense late in the second game Saturday:
"We talked about it before the game, we have to not worry if we don't get anything in the first four or five innings. If we stack pitches, get his pitch count up, and when he gets to the sixth, seventh and eighth, that's when we'll do our damage. That's exactly what happened. He had the high pitch count, he started leaving the ball up, his velocity was down a little bit, and we did damage. We just executed exactly what we talked about before the game. Just professional at-bats guy after guy. It wasn't perfect but it was consistent."
On Patrick Crifasi:
"He set the tone early with quality at-bats. Even when he didn't get on base, it was a long at-bat. He made the pitcher work and allowed us to see what (the Faulkner pitcher has) right out of the game with a long at-bat. He hit a home run and threw a guy out, and that's a big deal for him. He's coming off labrum surgery and he couldn't even throw last year."
On Matthew Champagne:
"He did a great job. He came in and threw strikes and competed. It was exactly what we needed right there. Throw some zeros up and let our offense work. He did a really, really good job."
Pack Facts
Patrick Crifasi and Peyton Lacoste eached notched their first home runs of the season Saturday, as Lacoste hit a two-run blast in the first game of the doubleheader while Crifasi's homer was hit in the second game.
Matthew Champagne improved to 3-0 with three relief innings in Game 3 of the series.
With a walk in Game 1 and three walks and a hit in Game 2, Allen Dennis extended his on-base streak to 24 games.
Brandon Duhon and Crifasi each tied their career-highs with four RBI and three RBI, respectively, in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.
Ross Selvaggi and Dennis each scored three runs in the series finale, and that ties a career-best for Selvaggi while Dennis has scored at least three runs in five career games.
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.
