Clemson University-bound Steve Pyzik pitched for 3 1/3 innings, and played catcher for three innings yesterday. Then he added a two-run triple as 19th-ranked Loyola won its third straight game, 12-9, over visiting defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A conference champ Calvert Hall.
The Dons (3-0) ended a five-game winning streak by the third-ranked Cardinals (6-2), which included a mistake-free 7-2 win over defending 3A public school state champ Damascus of Montgomery County.
The game, played at Loyola, was called at 6: 15 p.m. after six complete innings due to oncoming darkness.
Pyzik went 2-for-3, scoring three times and reaching base his four times at the plate. Pyzik walked in the first inning, singled in the second, tripled in the fourth and reached on an error in the fifth.
Loyola had eight hits. Brett Smagala (2-for-3) got six RBIs on a double and a fourth-inning grand slam that helped to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 9-5 lead.
Adam Rohr and Brad Siegert (one RBI) also tripled for Loyola, which was coming off last week's 3-2 upset victory over then-No. 2 Mount St. Joseph, last season's MIAA A Conference runner-up.
Calvert Hall nailed Dons hurlers Pyzik, Pat Dahlgren, Matt Lang and Jeff Fertitta for 11 hits, including two triples by Joey Marcozzi (one RBI) and a two-run home run by Chris Stebbings (three RBIs).
No. 2 Arundel 11, No. 1 Severna Park 8: Starters Andy Kostic of visiting Arundel and Severna Park's Josh Banks gutted it out, but in the end Arundel closer Dave Stallings put a lid on the slugfest at Severna Park.
Stallings came on with runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh and got the last three outs to preserve the victory for the Wildcats (3-1) over the Falcons (1-1).
Kostic and Banks had identical totals of 109 pitches with 71 of them for strikes, but Stallings needed only three pitches to get the job done.
The two teams combined for 25 hits, including two homers each by Arundel's John McCurdy and Ryan Erhard (2-for-4, four RBIs). Arundel's Norris Roy went 3-for-4.
Severna Park trailed 7-0 before staging a four-run third inning, featuring a three-run homer by Joe Wiedman (3-for-4, three RBIs). Severna Park's switch-hitting clean-up hitter, Derek Dixon (3-for-4, three RBIs), hit a left-handed two-run home run in the fifth inning.
Kostic (2-0) had a career-high 12 strikeouts, gave up 10 hits, did not walk a batter but hit two.
Girls lacrosse
No. 9 Liberty 10, No. 12 Fallston 6: Sophomore attacker Michelle Allen had two goals and two assists as Liberty out-shot Fallston, 20-10.
The Lions broke a 2-2 tie by scoring eight of the next nine goals as the Carroll County and region champs recorded their first victory after several rainouts.
Mary Amasia scored three goals, and Becky Rausa added two goals and an assist for Fallston (1-2), which has dropped two straight games to top 15 opponents.
Pub Date: 3/30/99