Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Loyola baseball team swept Friday's doubleheader over the 21st-ranked Knights to win its third SSAC series of the season
WESTWEGO – The Loyola University New Orleans baseball had a big day at Segnette Field on Friday. The Wolf Pack is hosting No. 21 Middle Georgia State for a three-game Southern States Athletic Conference series, and the Pack won both games on Friday to claim the series over the Knights. Loyola started the afternoon with a 3-1 win, then Aaron Davis had a two-RBI go-ahead double in the second game of the day to help edge MGA, 7-5.
Loyola is now 21-16 overall and 8-6 in SSAC play, and Game 3 between the Pack and the Knights will start at noon on Saturday.
Game 1: Loyola 3, #21 Middle Georgia 1
Even though Middle Georgia was able to put four runners on base through its first two at-bats of the game, Loyola struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Tucker Ganley started the frame with a double, then he moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Christopher Bohrer. During the next at-bat, Gabriel Trastoy laid down a bunt for a squeeze play, but the MGA first baseman's throw home in an attempt to get Ganley was late to make it a 2-0 Loyola lead.
After the Knights got one run back in the top of the fourth, the Wolf Pack used patience at the plate in the bottom of the fifth to spark an insurance run situation. Allen Dennis and Luke Clement worked back-to-back walks with one out on the board, which was followed-up by Garrett Beadle picking up the RBI on a single during the next at-bat. That gave Loyola the 3-1 lead.
Stephen Still got the start on the bump and didn't give up an earned run over his 5.2 innings of work. He allowed a pair of base runners in the first and second innings each, as the Knights used two walks, a hit and an error to apply some early pressure. Still, though, recorded five strikeouts in those first two innings to get out of trouble with no damage done. The Knights were able to make it a 2-1 game with an unearned run in the fourth, but the Baton Rouge native was sharp in the fifth before handing the ball to Joshua Orr in the sixth.
Orr entered the sixth inning with two outs already on the board and two runners on base, but the freshman needed just three pitches to get his first strikeout and end the inning. He allowed a lead-off hit in the seventh, but a double play allowed Orr to face the minimum to help earn his first career save.
Game 2: Loyola 7, #21 Middle Georgia 5
After two scoreless frames for both teams, Loyola pushed the first runs across in the bottom of the third. Bohrer got the three-run inning started with a leadoff solo home run, then Aaron Davis followed that up with a double during the next at-bat. Singles by Payton Alexander and Beadle, with a Dennis walk sandwiched in-between, gave Loyola a 3-0 lead early.
MGA scored once in the top of the fifth, cutting the Pack's lead to 3-1, but Clement got that run back and more with one swing of the bat. With Dennis on base, Clement sent a pitch to right-center, clearing the fence to move Loyola's advantage to 5-1 after five innings. The Knights, though, didn't go down quietly. They scored three more runs in the top of the sixth and another in the seventh to tie the game at 5-all.
Beadle led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single to quickly get something started, but two flyouts put two outs on the board. Bohrer kept the inning alive with a single, putting runners on the corners, then Davis came up big with a two-RBI double off the left-centerfield wall to give the Pack the lead for good, 7-5.
Matthew Champagne got the win by pitching the final 2.2 innings with a couple of strikeouts and no runs allowed. While he did have to pitch around some danger in the seventh and eighth innings, his ninth inning was dominant.
Brenden Taravella looked good in his start, too, as the senior went five strong innings only giving up two earned runs on four hits. He pitched 1-2-3 innings in the first and second before he found himself in trouble in the third. The Knights loaded the bases off one hit and two errors, but Taravella got a flyout and a fielder's choice to escape without allowing any runs. He pitched another clean frame in the fourth before allowing one run each in the fifth and sixth innings.
Pack Facts
This is the second series win against a ranked opponent for the Wolf Pack this season.
This is also the team's third three-game win streak of the season.
Luke Clement extended his on-base streak to 14 games, the longest on the team, dating back to March 5.
With three hits between today's two games, Garrett Beadle currently holds the team's longest hitting streak at five games. He also has an 11-game on-base streak, which dates back to February 23.
Payton Alexander had a hit in each game and scored a run in Game 2, giving him 150 runs scored in his career. That's tied for the fourth-most runs in a career in Loyola history.
Allen Dennis recorded five at-bats on Friday, giving him 721 for his career. That's tied for the most at-bats in a career in Wolf Pack history. He'll have a chance to break the record in Game 3 on Saturday.
Alexander also moved up on the career at-bats list. He's now at 613 for his career, which is the eighth-most in the Loyola record book.
Stephen Still is approaching some single-season Loyola strikeouts records after striking out seven batters on Friday. He's at 59 this season, needing just two more to enter the top 10 in that record.
Game 2 was the 12th game this season in which the Wolf Pack bats have produced double-digit hits. They've had at least 10 hits in seven of the last 12 games.
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.
