Box Score Once down 7-2, Loyola beat Blue Mountain in extra innings of an elimination game at the SSAC Championship on Friday
COLUMBUS, Ga. – With their backs against the wall, the Loyola Wolf Pack didn't surrender after falling in a five-run hole early in Friday's Southern States Athletic Conference Championship elimination game. Trailing 7-2 after the first inning, the Wolf Pack took the lead late in the game before winning it in the 10th inning, 11-9, to advance to Saturday's semifinal round.
Second-seeded Loyola (33-21) will now have to beat No. 3-seed William Carey twice on Saturday to play in the tournament's title game. The Wolf Pack and Crusaders will meet at 9 a.m. CDT on Saturday, and if the Pack were to win, the two teams would play again later in the afternoon.
Things looked promising for the Pack early on, as Kason Cullins and Allen Dennis got things going with a single and a home run during the first two at-bats of the game to give Loyola an early 2-0 lead. The Toppers, however, scored seven runs off seven hits in the bottom half of the first inning to jump up 7-2.
Brenden Taravella entered to pitch in the first and settled into the game nicely. He held Blue Mountain off the scoreboard during the next four innings to allow the Wolf Pack offense to chip into the lead. A single by Gabriel Trastoy scored one run in the second inning, 7-3, then a leadoff solo home run by Christopher Bohrer in the fourth inning cut the score to 7-4.
Loyola regained the lead with a five-spot on the scoreboard in the sixth inning. Jake Mills started things off by getting hit by a pitch, and back-to-back walks for Bohrer and Trastoy loaded the bases with no outs. A bases-loaded walk for Cullins scored the first run, 7-5, and a sacrifice fly for Allen Dennis made it a one-run game, 7-6. Clement delivered the biggest blow, though, smoking a three-run home run to put the Pack on top 9-7.
Blue Mountain scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game up and force extra innings, but the Wolf Pack scored two runs in the 10th to help earn the win. Bohrer started the extra-inning frame with a double, and after Trastoy bunted him over, Cullins doubled down the right-field line to put Loyola ahead by one. A single by Dennis one at-bat later scored another run to give the Pack a little extra cushion heading into the bottom half of the 10th.
Brett Fisackerly finished things off for the Wolf Pack, pitching the final 4.1 innings in a dominant fashion. He didn't allow a hit throughout his outing and notched five strikeouts while facing the minimum of 13 batters.
Pack Facts
Another game, another record for Allen Dennis. With his left-field homer in his first at-bat on Friday, Dennis broke Loyola's single-season home runs record, and he's up to 14 this season.
With three RBI, Dennis jumped from eighth to fifth on Loyola's single-season RBI list. After batting in 56 runs last season, he's up to 55 so far this season.
Luke Clement continued his hot-hitting stretch, going 3-for-6 at the plate. His on-base streak is now up to 32 games, and he's had at least one hit in 18 straight contests.
Dennis and Clement each have long on-base streaks, as Dennis has reached base in each of the last 20 games.
Clement's home run to left-center in the sixth inning was his 10th of the season. That's tied for the sixth-most in a season in Loyola history.
With six strikeouts against the Toppers, Brenden Taravella is now in sole possession of second on Loyola's all-time strikeouts list, with 211 for his career.
Brett Fisackerly was perfect after coming into the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Fisackerly didn't allow a single base runner in 4.1 innings of work, striking out five batters and collecting his seventh win of the season.
Seven wins ties Fisackerly with Stephen Still and three others for sixth place on Loyola's single-season wins list.
Payton Alexander is now tied for third all-time in hits in program history. His single in the fifth inning gave him 226 for his career.
Loyola has scored in the double digits in all three games of the SSAC Championship so far. The team has also accumulated at least 13 hits in each of the last four games.
Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, May 4:
Game 1: #4 Brewton-Parker def. #5 Middle Georgia, 4-1
Game 2: #3 William Carey def. #6 Mobile, 16-14
Game 3: #7 Blue Mountain def. #2 Loyola, 14-13
Game 4: #1 Faulkner def. #8 Talladega, 9-8 (11)
Thursday, May 5:
Game 5: #2 Loyola def. #6 Mobile, 14-5 Mobile Eliminated
Game 6: #5 Middle Georgia def. #8 Talladega, 8-2 TalladegaEliminated
Game 7: #3 William Carey def. #7 Blue Mountain, 12-8
Game 8: #1 Faulkner def. #4 Brewton-Parker, 6-0
Friday, May 6:
Game 9: #2 Loyola def. #7 Blue Mountain, 11-9 Blue Mountain Eliminated
Game 10: #4 Brewton-Parker def. #5 Middle Georgia, 10-9 Middle GeorgiaEliminated
Saturday, May 7:
Game 11: #3 William Carey v. #2 Loyola, 9 a.m.
Game 12: #1 Faulkner v. #4 Brewton-Parker, 12 p.m.
If Necessary: #3 William Carey v. #2 Loyola, 3:00 p.m.
If Necessary: #1 Faulkner v. #4 Brewton-Parker, 6:00 p.m.
*Championship: TBD
*Games 11 and 12 will be at 10 am and 1 pm EST Saturday. If the two unbeaten teams win, then the championship game will follow at 6 pm EST. If a team with a loss wins Game 11 and/or 12 that triggers 1-2 "If Necessary" games to follow on Saturday at 4 pm and 7 pm EST. The championship would then be played Sunday at a time to be determined.
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
