JACKSON, Tenn. – After capturing the program's first SSAC tournament championship last season, the Loyola Wolf Pack repeated as tournament champions on Saturday, taking down top seed Abraham Baldwin 5-3 to win the 2026 SSAC Baseball Championship. Competing as the sixth seed in the tournament, Loyola is just the second team seeded No. 6 or lower to win the SSAC tournament, and the first since Berry College in 2006. 

Loyola improves its overall record this season to 36-17 with the win. The Wolf Pack have earned an automatic berth into the NAIA National Championship and will now prepare for the opening round, which runs from May 11-14. The full tournament field of 46 teams and Loyola's path to the NAIA World Series will be unveiled during the NAIA selection show on May 6 at 4 p.m.

Hunter Ponson got the scoring started Saturday with a leadoff solo home run in the second inning, but the Wolf Pack didn't stop there. Jovan Swasey singled during the next at-bat and Reed Duthu was hit by a pitch to quickly put two runners on base with no outs. Myles Liggans got a one-out single to make it a 2-0 lead, then an infield error off the bat of Jaxon Buratt scored two more, 4-0. 

ABAC got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning, and neither team scored in the third and fourth innings. Loyola got one of those runs back in the fifth, though, as a wild pitch allowed courtesy runner Jed Cambre to score, 5-2. A one-out walk by catcher Drew Lee got that rally started. 

Thomas Hakimian turned in his best pitching performance of the year in the conference championship game, limiting the dangerous Stallions offense to three runs over the first 6.1 innings. From there, it was up to the NAIA saves leader, Jake Cohen, to shut the door. He did the job nearly flawlessly, retiring eight of the nine batters he faced and closing the game with a strikeout. 

Pack Facts

• Jake Cohen cemented his spot as the best closer in team history Saturday after shutting out the Stallions over the final three innings for his 13th save of the year. After breaking the school's single-season saves record in March, Cohen's 13th save also gave him the program's career saves record.

• Thomas Hakimian threw 110 pitches over 6.1 innings against the No. 1 seed ABAC, allowing just three runs with three strikeouts to pick up his fifth win of the season and 17th of his Wolf Pack career. 

• Hakimian and Brady Bowen, who each added to their career win total in the tournament, are tied for seventh in career wins in the Loyola record book. 

• Hunter Ponson came up big in the championship game with a solo home run to open the scoring and a double in the eighth. 

• Drew Lee, Jaxon Buratt, Jovan Swasey, and Myles Liggans also recorded hits in the game. Including Ponson's homer, Swasey, Liggans, Reed Duthu, and Jed Cambre accounted for the Wolf Pack's five runs. 

• Loyola is the first team seeded sixth or lower to win the SSAC Championship since 2006, when No. 6 seed Berry College (Ga.) won 5-4 over No. 2 seed Lee. 

• Loyola is also the third team to win back-to-back SSAC tournament championships and the first since William Carey in 2021 and '22.  

SSAC Championship Schedule

Pool A: 
#1 Abraham Baldwin (3-1)
#4 Mobile (1-2)
#5 Faulkner (2-1)
#8 Brewton-Parker Christian (0-3)

Pool B: 
#2 William Carey (2-1)
#3 Thomas (1-2)
#6 Loyola (4-0)
#7 UT Southern (0-3)
 

Wednesday, April 29
Game 1 | #5 Faulkner def. #4 Mobile, 8-4
Game 2 | #1 Abraham Baldwin def. #8 Brewton-Parker, 15-4 (7)
Game 3 | vs. #2 William Carey def. #7 UT Southern, 15-1 (7)
Game 4 | #6 Loyola def. #3 Thomas, 5-4

Thursday, April 30
Game 5 | #5 Faulkner def. #8 Brewton-Parker, 5-1
Game 6 | #1 Abraham Baldwin def. #4 Mobile, 8-7
Game 7 | #2 William Carey def. #3 Thomas, 9-8
Game 8 | #6 Loyola def. #7 UT Southern, 16-10

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

Saturday, May 2
Championship Game | #6 Loyola def. #1 Abraham Baldwin, 5-3