No. 13 Loyola advances to SSAC Championship Title Game

JACKSON, Tenn. – The Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team earned a spot in Sunday's Southern States Athletic Conference Baseball Championship title game, defeating Abraham Baldwin, 5-2, on the final day of pool play Saturday. The win also gave Loyola an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship later this month. 
 

The Wolf Pack finished the round-robin portion of the tournament 2-1, matching ABAC's mark. However, with the win on Saturday, Loyola owns the tiebreaker over the Stallions. 
 

Loyola will play top-seeded William Carey at 1 p.m. on Sunday for the SSAC Championship title. 
 

After a scoreless first, Loyola got on the board in the second inning. Cole Romero led off with a single and eventually moved into scoring position with a two-out stolen base. Drew Lee could have scored him from anywhere, though, as the junior deposited a pitch over the left-field "Blue Monster" wall at Rockabillys Stadium to put the Pack up 2-0. 
 

Loyola made it a 4-0 lead in the third inning off two hits and an error. After Jaxon Buratt was hit by a pitch to start things, Brandon Mooney doubled to put two in scoring position. With one out, Garrett Felix hit a ground ball to the ABAC second baseman, who threw the ball away to bring home the two base runners. 
 

The Wolf Pack kept the scoring going in the fourth, as they used another two-out hit to extend their advantage to 5-0. Ben Harris reached with two outs on an infield error, and he stole second to get into scoring position. Buratt picked up the RBI one at-bat later. 
 

Thomas Hakimian pitched six scoreless innings before giving up two runs in the seventh. He worked around a couple of one-out singles in the first and second innings, then he didn't allow another hit until the sixth. After giving up the two runs in the seventh, he got a strikeout and a ground out with two runners in scoring position to keep it a three-run lead, 5-2. 
 

The Allen, Texas, native finished his seven-inning outing with six strikeouts to earn the win. Frank Fernandez received the save after throwing the last two innings with three strikeouts. 
 

Pack Facts

• With the victory over the Stallions, Loyola has tied the program record for team wins in a season. The Wolf Pack's record is now 37-15.

• Drew Lee hit his first collegiate home run in the second inning to put the Pack up 2-0.

• Jaxon Buratt got on base in all three of his trips to the plate, going 2-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch.

• Cole Romero also collected a pair of hits, scoring a run with Lee's second-inning homer. 

• With a strong second half of the 2025 season, Thomas Hakimian now has a team-high six pitching wins and a 6-1 record as a starter. 

• Frank Fernandez kept the Stallions scoreless over the final two innings to earn the save, his fourth of the year. That's tied with Caden Durand for the team high in saves this season. 

• Brandon Mooney hit a double, his 21st of the season, and scored a run to give him 70 runs this scores this season. He now has the only two seasons in program history with at least 70 runs scored, after scoring 73 last year. 

• Mooney also now has 76 hits this year, tying him for sixth in program history with his 2024 campaign. His career hits number (232) puts him in the top three in the program's career hits list, tying him with Payton Alexander for third all-time. 

SSAC Championship Schedule

Pool A: #1 William Carey, #4 Middle Georgia, #5 Blue Mountain, #8 UT Southern
Pool B: #2 Loyola, #3 ABAC, #6 Thomas, #7 Mobile
 

Wednesday, April 30 
Game 1 | #2 Loyola def. #7 Mobile, 9-4
Game 2 | #3 ABAC def. #6 Thomas, 9-7
Game 3 | #1 William Carey def. #8 UT Southern, 15-5
Game 4 | #4 Middle Georgia def. #5 Blue Mountain, 9-2
 

Thursday, May 1
Game 5 | #6 Thomas def. #2 Loyola, 8-4
Game 6 | #2 ABAC def. #7 Mobile, 24-23
Game 7 | #1 William Carey def. #5 Blue Mountain, 8-4
Game 8 | #8 UT Southern def. #4 Middle Georgia, 7-6
 

Saturday, May 3
Game 9 | #2 Loyola (2-1) def. #3 ABAC (2-1), 5-2
Game 10 | #7 Mobile (1-2) def. #6 Thomas (1-2), 8-5
Game 11 | #1 William Carey (3-0) def. #4 Middle Georgia (1-2), 17-6
Game 12 | 8:00 p.m. | #5 Blue Mountain (0-2) vs. #8 UT Southern (1-1)
 

Sunday, May 4
Championship | 1:00 p.m. | #2 Loyola vs. #1 William Carey