Loyola captures 2025 SSAC Baseball Championship

JACKSON, Tenn. – For the first time in 23 years, the Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team has been crowned conference tournament champions, as the Wolf Pack defeated top seed William Carey 9-7 Sunday to capture the 2025 Southern States Athletic Conference Championship. It's the first SSAC tournament win since Loyola joined the conference prior to the 2011 season, and it's the first conference tournament win since the Wolf Pack won the 2002 GCAC championship. 

With the win, Loyola improves to 38-15, and for the second year in a row, the team has broken the school record for most victories in a single season. The tournament championship has earned the Wolf Pack an automatic qualifying berth to the NAIA National Championship tournament. Loyola will find out its opening round destination during the NAIA's selection show on Wednesday, May 7, and the opening round will be held May 12-15. 

The Wolf Pack jumped out to a 2-0 lead Sunday after collecting four hits in the top of the first inning. Myles Liggans got things started, beating out a ground ball near first base. Garrett Felix then snuck a grounder through the hole at shortstop to put two on for the Pack. Liggans was picked off, but Felix came around to score, as Cole Romero nearly had a ball clear the left-field "Blue Monster," hitting the top of the wall for an RBI double. Landon Manson made it four hits in a row, singling to center to score Romero.

Starting pitcher Brady Bowen got off to a solid start, going 1-2-3 in the first inning, then a diving catch in center field by Romero helped him get out of a bases-loaded jam in the second. Bowen kept the Crusaders scoreless until the fourth inning, where they put two runs on the board in the bottom of the frame, but not before the Pack added three to their run total in the top half.

Marcus Steen led off with a walk in the fourth, eventually moving over to third after a sacrifice bunt by Drew Lee and a passed ball. Jaxon Buratt was then walked, as was Mooney intentionally to load the bases with two outs. Once again, Liggans got a single to drop in an empty spot in the infield to score Steen, and Felix knocked another single through the left side to bring Mooney and Buratt home. 

Loyola led 5-2 after the first four innings, and the Pack would quickly add to their lead in the fifth. 

Manson started the fifth inning driving a ground ball past the third baseman for a base hit. Steen then reached first on a bunt that bounced down the third-base line, and both advanced into scoring position on another sacrifice bunt from Lee. Manson scored on a wild pitch, and Steen on a passed ball, to bring Loyola's run total to seven. 

William Carey homered in the bottom of the inning, but Bowen's fifth strikeout and another athletic save in center by Romero limited the Crusaders to one run, 7-3 Wolf Pack after five. 

The Wolf Pack advantage grew by two in the top of the sixth, with Liggans scoring on a passed ball and Felix coming home on a sac-fly from Romero to make it 9-3. It was Romero's second RBI of the game, giving him 68 for the season to set a new Wolf Pack record. 

Carey started to gradually increase its run total in the bottom of the sixth inning, as they put four runs on the board between the sixth and eighth to cut the Loyola lead to 9-7. In the bottom of the ninth, the Crusaders had two runners on base with the top of their order on deck, but their nine-hole hitter popped out to Liggans in right to end the game. 

Bowen, who was credited with his third win of the season after throwing nearly 100 pitches, got the Pack through the first five innings. The bullpen (Matthew Weil, Carter Holstein, Caden Durand) then kept the lead intact over the last four, with Durand recording the final five outs to earn the save. 

Pack Facts

• This was the first conference tournament victory for the Loyola baseball program since May 4, 2002, when the team defeated LSU Shreveport 5-4 for the GCAC championship. It was the program's first conference tournament championship game appearance since May 2010, and its first since joining the SSAC.

• The Wolf Pack set a new program record with its 38th win of the season, surpassing the 2024 record of 37 wins. The team has a 38-15 overall record entering the national tournament

• Driving in two runs in the game, Cole Romero also set a new program record with 68 RBI this season, the most RBI by any player in a single season at Loyola.

• Caden Durand's fifth save of the season puts him in a five-way tie for the most saves in a season in program history. It's also the most saves in a season for a Wolf Pack player since Brenden Taravella had six in 2018. 

• All of the Loyola starters except one had at least one hit in Sunday's game for a total of 14 hits. The exception was Drew Lee, who contributed with two sacrifice bunts that eventually led to three runs. 

• Garrett Felix came through with a huge stat line in the championship game, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored, a stolen base, and two RBI. 

• Felix has now scored 64 runs this season, which only trails Brandon Mooney for the most in a single season in the Wolf Pack record book. 

• Mooney (77 hits), Felix (76), and Romero (72) are also climbing the single-season hits list in the record book. Mooney has the all-time record at 81 hits in the 2023 season, but the seniors will have a chance to break the record at the upcoming NAIA National Championship tournament. 

• Mooney's double in the third inning gave him 50 for his Wolf Pack career. He's one of just four players in program history to reach the 50-doubles mark, and the only one to do it in three or fewer seasons. 

• Romero and Mooney had at least one hit in all four games of the tournament. Felix led the team in hits during the week with eight, Myles Liggans was second on the squad with seven, and Romero had six total. Mooney and Landon Manson each had five hits in the tournament, with four of Mooney's five going for extra bases. 

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 def. #3 ABAC, 5-2
Game 10 | #7 Mobile def. #6 Thomas, 8-5
Game 11 | #1 William Carey def. #4 Middle Georgia, 17-6
Game 12 | #5 Blue Mountain def. #8 UT Southern, 11-0

Sunday, May 4
Championship | #2 Loyola def. #1 William Carey, 9-7