Box Score Allen Dennis hit three home runs on Tuesday against the Badgers to help Loyola capture the non-conference win
WESTWEGO – It's been 10 days since the Loyola Wolf Pack baseball has hit the diamond for a game, and they let it all out en route to a 16-6 run-rule win in seven innings against Spring Hill College on Tuesday at Segentte Field. The win moves the Pack's overall record to 19-16 after the win, and they'll put their 6-6 Southern States Athletic Conference mark on the line this weekend when Middle Georgia State comes to town.
Loyola (RV) and the 16th-ranked Knights begin their SSAC matchup with a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2 p.m., then a noon contest on Saturday concludes the three-game series.
Spring Hill started the game by scoring in each of the first three frames, but the Wolf Pack, however, scored in the first four innings to take a commanding 9-3 lead over the Badgers. Loyola scored nine runs through those innings, and all nine came from the long ball as well, including three home runs by Allen Dennis. The Wolf Pack third baseman smacked a two-run homer in the first, a grand slam in the second and a solo shot in the fourth, and Gabriel Trastoy notched a two-run home run in the third to build the lead.
After Spring Hill grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Kason Cullins started the bottom half with a walk before Dennis' two-run homer two at-bats later. In the bottom of the second, Trastoy started off with a double before Aaron Davis singled and Cullins walked to fill the bases with one out ahead of Dennis' four-run slam. Leading 6-3 in the next at-bat for the Wolf Pack, Christopher Bohrer started things off in the third with a double before Trastoy made it an 8-3 lead with one swing of the bat. Then Dennis' third homer of the game in the fourth pushed the score to 9-3 in Loyola's favor.
After the Badgers scratched one run across in the top of the sixth, 9-4, Loyola exploded with a seven-run frame to extend the advantage to 16-4 and put the 10-run-rule into play. Dennis started the inning off with a walk before Luke Clement's double quickly put two runners on base with no outs. A double by Tucker Ganley made it an 11-4 lead, then two wild pitches by the SPC pitcher scored Ganley, 12-4. Garrett Beadle and Bohrer were hit by pitches during consecutive plate appearances, then two more wild pitches made it a 13-4 score. Aaron Davis doubled later in the inning to plate two more runs, and a single by Clement moved Davis home to end the scoring for the Wolf Pack.
Spring Hill tried to cut the deficit to less than 10 to extend the game, but two runs were all it could get in the top of the seventh.
Loyola used eight different pitchers in the contest to get a lot of arms playing time, as Matthew Bratton earned the win after Loyola took the lead for good in the second inning. Joshua Orr, though, was the first Wolf Pack pitcher to not allow Spring Hill to score, working a clean fourth inning, and Brett Fisackerly followed that up with a quick fifth inning.
Pack Facts
Allen Dennis recorded the best offensive performance of his storied Loyola career. The New Orleans native was 3-for-3 at the plate, with all three hits flying over the fence, including a grand slam. In the process, he drove in seven runs, setting a new career-best for RBI in a single game.
Dennis also reached base on a walk and was hit by a pitch, reaching at least first base all five times he stepped up to the plate. He trotted across home plate four times, marking a new career-high for runs scored in a game.
Now with 157 career runs scored, Dennis holds the all-time record for runs scored in a career in Loyola history, passing Wolf Pack Hall of Famer Doug Neill, who scored 154 runs in his career.
So far this season, Dennis has totaled 11 homers, placing him in a four-way tie for second place in Loyola's record book in single-season home runs. Dennis also hit 11 home runs last year and in the 2019 season. For his career, he has 43, a number that sits atop the Wolf Pack record book.
Loyola scored a new season-high with 16 runs. The previous high of 14 runs came on March 20 against Blue Mountain.
Seven different players accounted for the 14 team hits on Tuesday, with Dennis, Luke Clement, Gabriel Trastoy, and Aaron Davis having multi-hit games.
Trastoy enjoyed one of his best offensive games of the year, hitting his first home run of the 2022 season while scoring three runs, matching a career-high.
Davis stole a base in the bottom of the fifth inning, bringing his career total to 35 swiped bags. That's tied for the 10th-most in a season in program history.
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