Box Score The Wolf Pack has now won nine of their last 10 games after a road victory at Spring Hill on Wednesday
MOBILE, Ala. – The Loyola Wolf Pack scored in double digits for the fourth straight game on Wednesday, defeating Spring Hill 13-9 in Mobile. The win also marked the fifth straight for the Pack, and they've now won nine out of their last 10 games with seven regular-season games left.
Loyola (27-17, 12-6 in SSAC ) is now set to host Southern States Athletic Conference foe Talladega College this weekend, first playing the Tornadoes at noon on Friday at John Ryan Stadium before a doubleheader on Saturday at Mike Miley Field beginning at noon.
The game had an unusual start with both teams scoring at least five runs in the first inning. The Wolf Pack started the game with five runs in the top half, only to see the Badgers come back with six runs in the bottom half. Loyola settled in, though, scoring multiple runs in the third, fifth and seventh innings to pull away.
Allen Dennis brought the first run home in the opening frame with an RBI single after Kason Cullins reached on a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Luke Clement and Payton Alexander walk consecutively to load the bases, and a fielder's choice during Christopher Bohrer's at-bat made it 2-0. Cameron Trosclair followed that up with a three-run home run, and all of this happened before Spring Hill recorded the second out.
After the Badgers pulled ahead, 6-5, Loyola took the lead for good with two runs in the third. Trosclair got that started with a single to left field and Ryan Smilari walked to quickly put two on base with no outs. With the bases loaded, a sacrifice fly by Aaron Davis and a fielder's choice off the bat of Cullins flipped the lead to the Wolf Pack, 7-6.
The Wolf Pack scored three more runs in the fifth inning, and all three happened in different ways. Davis walked, stole second and scored on an error by the Spring Hill centerfielder to take an 8-6 lead, and Clement made it 9-6 with a solo home run to right field. Alexander kept the inning going with a double during the next at-bat, then Bohrer brought him home with a single moments later, 10-6.
Spring Hill got one run back in the next half-inning, 10-7, but another Wolf Pack run in the sixth and two more in the seventh ended any hopes for the Badgers.
Matthew Champagne earned his fourth win of the season with 4.1 innings in relief. He struck out a couple, walked one, and allowed one unearned run off three hits, but more importantly, he shut down the Spring Hill bats enough to let the Wolf Pack offense go to work. Wes Anderson worked an inning after Champagne and John Blanchard pitched the next two innings, each recording a strikeout with no runs allowed.
Pack Facts
This is Loyola's sixth game scoring double-digit runs this season. The team is a perfect 6-0 in the games where it scores at least 10 runs.
Loyola now owns a five-game winning streak, the team's longest of the season so far. The Wolf Pack have now won nine of the last 10 games, dating back to their first matchup with Spring Hill on April 5.
The Wolf Pack got two home runs in the game, courtesy of Cameron Trosclair and Luke Clement. It's the 11th game this season in which two different players have hit a home run for the Pack.
Trosclair remains second on the team in total home runs this season with six, while Clement is third on the team with five homers.
Three different players recorded multi-hit games, with Trosclair leading the way at three hits. Allen Dennis and Christopher Bohrer each knocked in two hits.
Loyola batters combined for 11 hits on Wednesday, marking the fifth-straight game in which the team has reached double figures in hits.
Matthew Champagne joined Stephen Still and Brett Fisackerly as the only pitchers with at least four wins for the Wolf Pack this season. He also matched his win total from last season, when he finished the year 4-0.
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.
