Wolf Pack baseball begins SSAC Championship Wednesday

JACKSON, Tenn. – The No. 14-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team will look to defend its 2025 SSAC Championship title this week at the 2026 conference tournament. Loyola enters as the No. 6 seed and plays in a pool with second-seeded William Carey, No. 3 Thomas, and No. 7 Tennessee Southern from Wednesday through Friday.  
 

The Wolf Pack finished the season with a 15-12 SSAC record, but they were one game back from third place in the league standings and two games from second. Abraham Baldwin won its last 10 games of the regular season to run away with the conference title at 20-6.
 

The Pack and Thomas will start the week with a 7 p.m. matchup on Wednesday, then Loyola takes on the Crusaders at 4 p.m. on Thursday before Tennessee Southern at 7 p.m. on Friday finishes pool play action. Winners of each pool will play at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and both teams will receive an automatic qualifier spot into the NAIA National Championship tournament. 
 

Loyola claimed series wins against Thomas and Tennessee Southern this season, but won one of the three matchups against Carey. The Wolf Pack got off to a good start in SSAC play with a 13-5 record with three weeks to go, but a 2-7 finish in league play hurt the team's standing. Four of those losses have been by one run, though. 
 

No. 1 ABAC, No. 4 Mobile, No. 5 Faulkner, and No. 8 Brewton-Parker Christian make up Pool A. 
 

Jaxon Buratt leads the team with a .387 batting average, followed by Ayden Authement (.379), who returned from injury last weekend, Nathan McDonald (.364), JJ Garcia (.346), Drew Lee (.308), and Jed Cambre (.300). Brady Bowen (5-4, 4.40 ERA) and Michael Hotard (5-2, 4.76 ERA) have been consistent weekend starters for the Pack, and Frank Fernandez (0.92 ERA, 29.1 IP) and Jake Cohen (11 Saves) have been a lights-out 1-2 punch out the bullpen all season.
 

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SSAC Championship Schedule

Pool A: #1 Abraham Baldwin, #4 Mobile, #5 Faulkner, #8 Brewton-Parker Christian
Pool B: #2 William Carey, #3 Thomas, #6 Loyola, #7 UT Southern
 

Wednesday, April 29
Game 1 | 10:00 AM |  #5 Faulkner vs. #4 Mobile
Game 2 | 1:00 PM | #8 Brewton-Parker vs. #1 Abraham Baldwin
Game 3 | 4:00 PM | #7 UT Southern vs. #2 William Carey
Game 4 | 7:00 PM | #6 Loyola vs. #3 Thomas
 

Thursday, April 30
Game 5 | 10:00 AM | #8 Brewton-Parker vs. #4 Mobile
Game 6 | 1:00 PM | #1 Abraham Baldwin vs. #5 Faulkner
Game 7 | 4:00 PM | #2 William Carey vs. #6 Loyola
Game 8 | 7:00 PM | #7 UT Southern vs. #3 Thomas
 

Friday, May 1
Game 9 | 10:00 AM | #5 Faulkner vs. #8 Brewton-Parker
Game 10 | 1:00 PM | #4 Mobile vs. #1 Abraham Baldwin
Game 11 | 4:00 PM | #3 Thomas vs. #2 William Carey
Game 12 | 7:00 PM | #6 Loyola vs. #7 UT Southern
 

Saturday, May 2
Championship Game | 1:00 PM | Pool A Champ v. Pool B Champ
 

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