Loyola eliminated from NAIA baseball postseason

The eighth-ranked Wolf Pack suffered a tough extra-inning loss to No. 20 Oklahoma City Wednesday, ending their season with a program-best 36 wins this season

WESTWEGO – The No. 8 Loyola Wolf Pack saw their season come to an end Wednesday in the NAIA Baseball Opening Round. Playing as the home team, Oklahoma City used a 12th-inning single to right field to push across the game-winning run, defeating Loyola 4-3 in Game 6 of the New Orleans Bracket.

Loyola finished the season with a 36-15 overall record, which is the most wins in program history.

Stephen Still got the ball for the Wolf Pack and pitched well into the seventh inning, and the freshman struck out nine OCU batters throughout his outing while scattering five hits. The Stars had base runners on base in every inning while Still was pitching, but the southpaw earned strikeouts in clutch situations to keep OCU off the board.

Loyola scratched across the first run of the game in the first inning, using a solo home run by Payton Alexander to quickly take a 1-0 lead. Allen Dennis added another solo homer in the sixth inning to push the lead to 2-0, then the Wolf Pack scored one more in the frame to take a 3-0 advantage. Kason Cullins, Luke LaCoste and Ross Selvaggi loaded the bases with a hit and two hit by pitches, respectively, and another hit batter with Patrick Crifasi at the plate scored the run.

OCU, however, cut the score to 3-2 with a two-run homer to right field in the eighth inning, then an error by the Loyola infield in the ninth allowed the tying run to cross in the bottom of the ninth.

The Stars threatened to end the game in the bottom of the 10th, putting two on base with no outs. Alexander Acevedo, though, entered to pitch and quickly got a pop out in foul territory, a strikeout and a fly out to left to keep the game alive. Acevedo worked a quick 11th inning, too, before OCU put together a game-ending rally in the 12th.

WOLF PACK HEAD COACH JEREMY KENNEDY
On Stephen Still and Alexander Acevedo’s performance:

“What Alex and Stephen did was remarkable. First Stephen, we’ve been trying to get him to go pitch-by-pitch and not get so emotional, and he finally did it. He showed what he’s capable of. Then what Alexander did was really unbelievable, to be honest. (OCU) is one of the best offenses in the country, and we brought him in, in a desperate situation. That was our last option. We knew Alex would go in there and throw strikes to give us a chance, and for him to actually pitch out of that was as good as I’ve ever seen.”

On the team’s performance:

“I thought we competed our asses off. (OCU) is a really good team, and it’s a team that I went against many, many times in the past. They are one of the best programs in the country year in and year out. For our program to go toe-to-toe with them like that, and compete in a regional that we’re hosting, it’s just exceptional. It was just a battle. You’re not going to be perfect and you’re going to make mistakes here and there, which we did, but we bounced back.”

On the what the season meant for the program:

“It wasn’t a step, it was a giant leap. What these guys have done, and they don’t even know, it was one of the biggest turnarounds in the history of the NAIA. I just couldn’t be prouder of them.”

On the support his team has received this season:

“We set out a year and a half ago to earn respect, that was our only goal. That was our main focus was to earn respect. To earn respect for our teammates and for ourselves then go up from there. Mission accomplished. We earned respect from the community, the high school coaches in the area, from our opponents, and from the NAIA. It’s an absolutely tremendous job for them to do that in such a short amount of time.”

On the players leaving the program:

“There are some guys I’m sorely going to miss. Just high-character guys on this team. A lot of times at the end of the year as a head coach, there are some guys who you’re not too sad to see leave, but this year, it’s not like that at all. I’d like to play another two months with this group. I’m sad to see some of them go.”

PACK FACTS
Stephen Still was one strikeout shy of his career-best, notching nine Wednesday. He finished the season with 62, which is tied for the eight-most in a single season for a Wolf Pack pitcher.

Alexander Acevedo’s six strikeouts tied his career-high, as the fifth-year reliever finished his Loyola career with 98.

Allen Dennis recorded his team-high 11th home run of the season in the contest, which ties him for the second-most in a single season. The Loyola career home run leader now has 32 long balls.

Dennis is also the program’s career RBI leader (158), and the homer was his 56th of the season, which is the fourth-most for a Wolf Pack player.

Dennis was one of three players with multiple hits, too, and that was his 17th multi-hit game of the season.

Payton Alexander homered in the ballgame as well, moving him to 10 this season and 16 for his career. He finished the season tied for fifth-most home runs in a single season and he’s currently tied for sixth-most in program history.

Alexander’s home run moves his on-base streak to 25 straight games, as he’ll carry that streak into the 2022 campaign.

Michael Calamari also extended his on-base and hit streaks with a single in the 12th inning. He ended the season by reaching base in 23 straight games and recording a hit in his last 14 contests.

Kason Cullins and Patrick Crifasi also had multiple hits, each recording two Wednesday. It was Cullins’ 14th game with at least two hits and the fourth for Crifasi.

With the two hits, Cullins also extended his on-base streak to 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.