Box Score The No. 10 Loyola Wolf Pack earned their sixth SSAC series sweep of the season Friday, defeating Blue Mountain College in seven innings
WESTWEGO – The 10th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack took care of business in their season finale Friday, defeating Blue Mountain 15-4 in seven innings to earn the series sweep at Segnette Field. It was Loyola's sixth Southern States Athletic Conference sweep of the season, ending its regular-season schedule with an overall record of 34-11 and a 16-2 conference mark.
Loyola will be the No. 1 seed in next week's SSAC Championship in Mobile, Alabama, and it's set to begin that tournament against eighth-seeded Stillman at 10 a.m. on Wednesday from Hank Aaron Stadium.
The Wolf Pack pulled away from the Toppers early, scoring nine runs in the first inning to take the commanding lead. Gabriel Trastoy led off the frame with a walk, then Payton Alexander homered during the next at-bat to quickly give Loyola a 2-0 lead. Michael Calamari and Allen Dennis followed that up with consecutive singles, and a Kason Cullins' single scored the third run. Luke LaCoste walked to load the bases one batter later, and a single by Christopher Bohrer and a double by Patrick Crifasi made it a 6-0 game. Trastoy came back around to bat, hitting a sacrifice fly to plate Bohrer, and back-to-back walks set up a double by Dennis to finish off the scoring, 9-0.
Blue Mountain scratched three runs across in the fourth inning, but the Wolf Pack got those runs back in the next half-inning off three hits and a BMC error. Peyton Lacoste, Aaron Davis and Zach Cook loaded the bases with one out in frame, and after a wild pitch made it 10-3, Crifasi brought home two more with a two-RBI single.
Leading 12-3 in the sixth inning, the Wolf Pack brought the run-rule into effect with three more runs. Crifasi was hit by a pitch and Landon Trosclair walked to quickly put two runners on base with no outs, and after Crifasi moved to third on a flyout, Ross Scelfo's single extended Loyola's lead to 13-3. A double by Ross Selvaggi and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Peyton Lacoste pushed the lead to 15-3.
BMC scored once more in the top of the seventh, but it needed at least three runs in the inning to extend the game into the eighth inning. Wes Anderson made sure that didn't happen, though, striking out two in the frame to end the game early.
Seven different pitchers saw action in the contest for Loyola, as John Blanchard III got the start and the win. Michael Toscano, Trace Messina III, Alexander Acevedo, Jacob Coleman, Matthew Champagne and Anderson followed the freshman starter, and all pitched well enough to hold the Toppers down.
On the 14 seniors honored Friday:
"Those guys have been through the lean years, and I'm happy they've been able to experience the flip side of that. Those guys have been critical in getting the culture changed and getting this thing going in the right direction. It was a great day to honor those guys who have invested a lot in the program."
On getting players in the game to end the season:
"It worked out perfectly. We had guys who had to get reps because we had last weekend off. We had some key bullpen guys who we had to get in the game, and we also wanted to get some guys in that this was going to be it for them. The offense did exactly what we needed them to do so we could do that, and we got some of the seniors in for one last hurrah here at home."
On the team's ability to move forward from Thursday's conference-clinching game:
"We talked about it before the game, making sure we refocus and not be caught thinking about yesterday and patting ourselves on the back. We had to move on and get back to work. This was not a meaningless game. We're still fighting for a seed in a regional, which is a big deal. It's a big deal to have a higher seed in a regional, because if you're the No. 1 seed, you get a bye. Clearly that's a big deal, so this game was important for us to come out with focus and take care of it. They did that."
Pack Facts
After Friday's win, the Wolf Pack ended the regular season by winning 24 of their final 27 games to enter the postseason red-hot.
Loyola saw contributions from up and down the roster, as 13 different players scored runs and 11 players registered hits.
John Blanchard III got the win, giving him four wins as a starter this year. He joins Stephen Still, Brenden Taravella, Brett Fisackerly, and Matthew Champagne on the list of Loyola pitchers with four wins in 2021.
Patrick Crifasi went 2-for-2 at the plate, scoring two runs and driving in four other Wolf Pack runs to lead the team. It's the first game with four RBI in his career.
Zach Cook scored a run and notched two hits, a season-high.
Payton Alexander's two-run homer was his ninth of the season, which ties him for sixth-most in a season in Loyola history. The two RBI give him 47 for the season, which is ninth-most in a season.
Alexander scored two runs during the game, bringing his season total to 47, which is the second-highest total in program history. He also extended his on-base streak to 19 games.
Allen Dennis went 2-for-2 at the plate, giving him 177 hits for his career. He's now tied for ninth for most hits in a Wolf Pack career.
Michael Calamari extended his on-base streak to 17 games and his hitting streak to eight games after his single in the first inning.
Kason Cullins recorded his 11th multi-hit game after going 2-for-2 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Cullins joins four other Loyola players (Alexander, Dennis, Calamari, Peyton Lacoste) with double-digit multi-hit games this season.
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