TALLADEGA, Ala. – The 23rd-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team began Southern States Athletic Conference play on Saturday, playing two games against the Talladega Tornadoes on the road. The Pack started the day with a 7-4 win before falling in the second game, 7-1. 
 

Loyola (14-7) and Talladega will play a rubber match on Sunday, with first pitch set for 12 p.m.
 

Game 1: #23 Loyola 7, Talladega 4
 

With the game tied 4-4 in the final inning, Brandon Mooney came through with the go-ahead RBI with a single, scoring two runs on the play. Brady Morgan got the seventh inning started with a one-out double, then Jake Mills reached on a walk to put two runners on base. With two outs, Mooney brought home pinch-runner Ryan Smilari and Mills to make it a 6-4 Wolf Pack lead, then Kason Cullins brought home the third run of the frame with a double, 7-4. 
 

Loyola struck first in the opening inning, scoring two to quickly take a 2-0 lead. Mooney and Cullins started the game with back-to-back singles, then Cole Romero brought the first run home and an error on the same play put two in scoring position. Christopher Bohrer hit a sacrifice fly during the next at-bat to make it a 2-0 Loyola lead. 
 

The Tornadoes scored three runs in the third to take a 3-2 lead, then they broke a 3-3 tie in fourth to go ahead 4-3 before Loyola's late-inning heroics. Tucker Ganley picked up an RBI in the top of the fourth to tie the game momentarily. 
 

Game 2: Talladega, 7, #23 Loyola 1
 

The Tornadoes scored in three of the first four innings of the second game, taking a 4-0 lead on the Pack. Loyola finally got on the board in the fifth, but the home team scored three in sixth to extend its lead. 
 

Romero and Bohrer started the fifth with a hit by pitch and a single, before back-to-back sacrifice flies brought home Romero, 4-1. Loyola ended the contest with 12 hits, but it left 18 runners on base throughout the game. 
 

Pack Facts

• Jake Mills went 5-for-5 at the plate in Game 2 on Saturday. It's the first time that a Wolf Pack player posted five hits in a game since March 3, 2008, when Kevin Fontenot led off with a 5-for-6 performance. 

• Brandon Mooney, who had multiple hits in each game, recorded five total hits in the doubleheader with three coming in Game 2. It was his fifth game of at least three hits this season. 

• Mooney and Cole Romero continued their season-long on-base streaks on Saturday. 

• Aaron Davis had his fifth multi-hit game of the season in Game 1, totaling three hits for the second time this season. 

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.