Box Score The eighth-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack will now have to fight through the loser's bracket of the NAIA Baseball Opening Round
WESTWEGO – The No. 8 Loyola Wolf Pack will have some work to do after starting the NAIA Baseball Opening Round with a 4-1 loss to Ottawa Tuesday. It was the first game of the New Orleans Bracket for the top-seeded Wolf Pack, while the No. 5 seed Braves had to beat No. 4 seed Benedictine College Monday to play in the contest.
The Wolf Pack is now slated to play another 11 a.m. game at Segnette Field, and they'll face the winner of No. 3 Oklahoma City and Benedictine.
Loyola had at least one runner reach base in eight of the nine innings, including the first seven frames. After leaving Michael Calamari and Peyton Lacoste on base in the first and second innings, each hitting singles, the Wolf Pack loaded the bases in the third to set up the game's first run. Gabriel Trastoy walked with one out, Payton Alexander followed that up with a single, and Calamari was hit by a pitch to put the pressure on the Braves, then an Allen Dennis groundout to second gave Loyola a 1-0 advantage.
Ottawa, however, quickly got that run back, as a two-run home run with no outs in the top of the fourth put the Braves up for good. The team from Ottawa, Kansas, pushed the lead to 4-1 with another two-run shot, this time coming in the sixth inning.
John Blanchard III got the start for Loyola, throwing seven strikeouts and allowing six hits in his 6.1 innings of work. Senior Alexander Acevedo finished the game by allowing just two hits over the next 2.2 innings, striking out two in the process.
The Loyola offense put runners in scoring position in each of the fifth and seventh innings but left two runners on base both times. The Wolf Pack ended the game with 11 runners left on base.
On the team's performance:
"I thought their pitchers did a tremendous job and our hitters didn't match what they were doing. When you have pitchers who are executing like that, that guy was executing a good fastball over and over down and away, slider down and away, you're going to have to be super disciplined and hit the ball hard and flat the other way in order to beat that. If they continue to do it, that's the only way to do it. We just didn't do it, so credit to them. Their pitchers were outstanding, and we didn't match it.
On Loyola's pitchers John Blanchard III and Alexander Acevedo:
"Alex did a good job coming in and doing what he does, which is executing his pitches. John, I thought he competed hard, which is why we like him in that spot. He's a max competitor. It was a learning experience for him, he was just up in the zone. When he was up in the bullpen (pregame), we were talking about it and hopeful he'd make that adjustment. He just left some pitches up. To their credit, they handled them. They were no-doubters. It wasn't for a lack of effort on his part. He was competing the whole time and grinding through not his best stuff. We talk about that all the time. You have to be able to do that and he did that. That's why he pitches there because we know he'll do that no matter what, but he just didn't have his 'A' stuff today."
On the mindset moving forward through the tournament:
"You have two options. You quit or you put your head down and keep going. That's the only two options you have. I think we'll put our heads down, go back to work, and see what we can do. One pitch at a time until they tell us we can't play anymore."
Pack Facts
Michael Calamari led the Wolf Pack with three hits, moving his hit streak to 13 straight games and his on-base streak to 22. It was also his 18th multi-hit game of the season.
Payton Alexander also had a multi-hit game, collecting two hits in the contest to give him a team-high 20 games with at least two hits. He's now reached base in 24 consecutive games, too.
Alexander now has 73 hits this season, and that ties him for fifth in the record book for hits in a single season. He's now seven hits shy of the single-season school record.
The Loyola career RBI leader Allen Dennis notched another one Tuesday, moving his career total to 157. He now has 55 this season, which is the fourth-most in a single season by a Wolf Pack player.
John Blanchard III recorded seven strikeouts, one shy of his career-best, moving his season total to 52, which is eight shy of entering the Top 10 for strikeouts in a season by a Loyola pitcher.
Tournament Schedule
Monday, May 17
Game #1 #5 Ottawa def. #4 Benedictine, 5-2
Game #2 #2 Keiser def. #3 Oklahoma City, 8-0
Tuesday, May 18
Game #3 Ottawa def. #1 Loyola, 4-1
3 p.m. Game #4 Benedictine vs. Oklahoma City
7 p.m. Game #5 Ottawa vs. Keiser
Wednesday, May 19
11 a.m. Game #6 Winner Game #4 vs. Loyola
3 p.m. Game #7 Winner Game #6 vs. Loser Game #5
7 p.m. Game #8 Winner Game #5 vs. Winner Game #7
Thursday, May 20
TBA Game #9 (If Necessary)
All times local (Central)
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