Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The 10th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack split two elimination games Saturday at the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship, ending their hopes of sweeping the conference regular-season and tournament titles
MOBILE, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans baseball team had to win both games Saturday at the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship to stay alive in the tournament title hunt, but the 10th-ranked Wolf Pack split the two to end its run. Loyola started the day with a 7-1 win over Mobile before falling to William Carey 4-1 in the nightcap.
The Wolf Pack will now wait and see who they'll play the NAIA Opening Round tournament, which will take place at Segnette Field for the first time in school history. The postseason brackets will be set for Thursday, May 14.
Game 1: #10 Loyola 7, Mobile 1
The Rams jumped out with some early offense, leading off with a single and loading the bases in the first inning. Once starter John Blanchard III got out of that jam, however, he was able to retire nine batters in a row, giving Loyola a chance to strike first.
The Wolf Pack got on the board in the bottom of the third inning, after their first base runner of the game, Patrick Crifasi, reached on a walk. Gabriel Trastoy nearly drove one over the left-field fence, instead hitting his first-career triple, which brought home Crifasi for the first run of the game. Then with Brandon Duhon running for Trastoy on third, Payton Alexander hit an RBI single to shallow left, giving the Pack a 2-0 advantage at the end of three.
Loyola would add another run in the fourth frame, as Allen Dennis reached base on a double down the left-field line, later scoring on a solid bunt from Luke LaCoste.
The score remained 3-0 until the seventh inning, where Mobile got on the board with a solo home run. Loyola responded well in the bottom of the inning, plating four runs to extend their advantage to 7-1. Christopher Bohrer and Crifasi were both hit by pitches, with Aaron Davis pinch-running for the leadoff man. Alexander was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out, then Michael Calamari drove in the first two runs of the inning, Davis and Crifasi, on a single past the shortstop. Alexander was brought home on a sacrifice fly from Allen Dennis, then Zach Cook, running for Calamari, came home on an RBI single from Peyton Lacoste.
Now with a six-run cushion, Blanchard came back out to pitch the final two innings, securing the necessary outs to earn the complete-game win. The freshman threw 108 pitches over nine innings, giving up just one run and seven hits with five strikeouts in his longest outing of the year. Besides the first-inning jam and the seventh-inning solo shot, Blanchard didn't allow a Mobile baserunner to reach third base while pitching four 1-2-3 frames.
Game 2: William Carey 4, #10 Loyola 1
Once again, Loyola was put in a tough situation early, as William Carey loaded the bases to start the game. The Crusaders scored one run off of a sacrifice fly in the first inning, later doing the same in the fifth before plating two more runs in the sixth inning, going up 4-0.
Loyola was unable to come up with a response for most of the contest against Carey's starter, who held the Wolf Pack to one hit, which came from Michael Calamari in the third inning. The lone run for the Pack was a solo homer from Ross Selvaggi in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn't enough to erase the four-run deficit.
On Game 1 starter John Blanchard:
"He couldn't have been better. I think he had composure, competitive spirit, pitch to pitch, good stuff. I'm super proud of him. He's doing exactly what we talk about doing. He's going out and executing as a freshman, which is outstanding. The most impressive thing, more than the stuff, more than the pitchability, is the competitive spirit and composure in a freshman. He's pitching like a veteran. He did a really, really good job."
On Payton Alexander breaking the single-season runs record:
"He was one of the guys who made the transition seamless. A lot of people ask how we're able to turn a program around this fast. Well, when you have guys like Payton Alexander, it makes it pretty easy to do. He's a guy who was starving for structure, competitive spirit from everybody involved, and he's just taken off inside of that culture. I couldn't be prouder of him."
On the team's performance in the second game of the day:
"(William Carey's starter) did an outstanding job. That was maybe the best-pitched game we've had against all year, so a tip of the cap to him. They needed that game for their season and he came out and did an outstanding job and gave us fits. Congrats to those guys for getting it done."
On preparing for the NAIA Opening Round at Segnette Field:
"We have to get healthy. This was taxing, especially on the hitters. We have to get a little rest in and finish up finals this week. We have some work to do on the facility to get ready for the tournament, but the main thing is to get healthy. We've done the work, we just have to get healthy for the regional and see what we can do."
On Gabriel Trastoy in the SSAC Championship:
"Gabe did a heckuva job all week, catching all but one inning, I think. He controlled the pitching staff, called a lot of the pitches, the majority of the pitches, and just did a really nice job."
On reliever Rhyse Dee in the second game:
"I thought Rhyse was good, that was big. He's been making some adjustments, and it was night and day better than he's been all year. The breaking ball was sharp, the fastball was firm, it was big-time downhill. He mowed through their best hitters right there at the end, which was good to see. We're hopeful that we can throw him in the backend of the bullpen during the Opening Round to strengthen our bullpen a little bit."
Pack Facts
With the win against Mobile, Loyola set a new program record for most victories in a season with 36 and counting.
John Blanchard went the full nine innings for the first time this season to collect his fifth win on the mound. He lowered his ERA to 2.25 in the process, which is best among starters on the team.
Payton Alexander broke Loyola's single-season runs record in Game 1 after coming home on an Allen Dennis sacrifice fly.
Alexander extended his on-base streak to 23 games. He's also now tied for 6th in the Loyola record book for most RBI in a season, as he's amassed 51 RBi this season.
Michael Calamari extended his hitting streak to 12 games, and his on-base streak to 21 games.
This was the second career home run for Ross Selvaggi and his first of the season.
Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 6
Game 1 | No. 1 Loyola def. No. 8 Stillman, 12-0 (8 innings)
Game 2 | No. 6 Brewton-Parker def. No. 3 Middle Georgia, 4-3
Game 3 | No. 2 Faulkner def. No. 7 Blue Mountain, 12-0 (7 innings)
Game 4 | No. 5 William Carey def. No. 4 Mobile, 14-2 (7 innings)
Friday, May 7
Game 5 | Middle Georgia def. Blue Mountain, 11-8 (12 innings), Blue Mountain eliminated
Game 6 | Mobile def. Stillman, 26-1, Stillman eliminated
Game 7 | Faulkner def. Brewton-Parker 11-1 (7 innings)
Game 8 | William Carey def. Loyola, 9-6
Saturday, May 7
Game 9 | Middle Georgia def. Brewton-Parker, 6-5, Brewton-Parker eliminated
Game 10 | Loyola def. Mobile, 7-1, Mobile eliminated
Game 11 | Middle Georgia def. Faulkner, 14-2
Game 12 | William Carey def. Loyola, 4-1, Loyola eliminated
Sunday, May 8
If Necessary | 10 a.m. | Faulkner v. Middle Georgia
Championship | 2 p.m. | Gm 11 winner v. William Carey
Tickets | Live Stats | Live Video | Bracket | Championship Program
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