A nearly perfect day for baseball delivered the SSAC Tournament Championship between Loyola and ABAC. 

Both undefeated in conference play, Loyola was a bit of an underdog heading into the tournament, needing to reach Saturday’s championship game to make the National Tournament, and as it goes in baseball, the powers that be were smiling down on them starting on Wednesday as they rolled to the showdown with ABAC on Saturday. Saturday would also be a chance for Loyola to repeat as SSAC Conference Tournament Champions, having won the tournament last season. 

For ABAC, the Stallions entered the SSAC tournament as the last ten winners and the regular-season champion, with an auto bid to the National Tournament. They rolled through the first three games of the tournament, setting the scene for a fun championship matchup with Loyola on Saturday. A win over Loyola on Saturday would give the Stallions their 14th straight victory heading into the National Tournament.

Loyola jumped out early on ABAC in the top half of the 2nd inning with a four-run inning capped off by a Hunter Ponson solo shot to deep right field that jump-started the game for the Wolfpack. ABAC would cut into the lead during the bottom half of the second inning, with two runs added to the scoreboard to cut the Loyola lead to 4-2 at the end of the second inning. From there, Loyola would add a run in the top half of the 5th inning off a wild pitch that scored Jed Cambre to extend the Loyola lead to 5-2. ABAC would add a run in the bottom of the 6th inning to cut the lead to 5-3. However, the Loyola pitching staff would be too much for ABAC to overcome as the Wolfpack would hang on to a 5-3 conference tournament championship. 

For the pitching staff at Loyola, Saturday was all about getting the job done and doing what it takes to finish off a pesky Stallions offense. Starting with Thomas Hakimian, who did what he had to by stepping and delivering 6.1 innings, giving up nine hits but only three runs, striking out three batters. Having his best stuff on Saturday might not have been in the cards, but the Loyola defense backed up their pitchers, including Jake Cohen, who came in and delivered nearly three complete innings of scoreless baseball. 

What Loyola accomplished this weekend in Jackson was nothing short of amazing. You had a team coming into the conference tournament with very little mometum after struggling in the regular season, going on a run in the conference tournament, and now they’re heading back to the Tournament. Not only did Loyola go back-to-back in the SSAC Tournament, but this team showed the resilience that makes college baseball different from any other sport. There’s not a soul who had Loyola winning the conference tournament this weekend, yet again, Coach Kennedy had his guys believing in the greater cause this week, and now they’re heading home to New Orleans with more hardware for the trophy case for the second straight season. There’s nothing like college baseball. This weekend was special and will be remembered as a baseball weekend that Loyola will talk about for generations to come. 

Both Loyola and ABAC will find out their postseason opening round destinations on Wednesday, the 6th. 

Photo Credits – SSAC on X and Loyola Baseball SID Camal Petro