JACKSON, Tenn. - Loyola survived a potential Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College rally Saturday and upset the No. 1-seeded Stallions in the Southern States Athletic Conference baseball championship game, 5-3.
Jake Cohen went 2 2/3 innings for the Loyola save, giving up only a single base hit in the process. The loss denied ABAC its 40th win of the season and ended a 13-game winning streak. Loyola entered as the 6th seed in the tournament.
In their fourth game of the playoffs, both teams had to dig a bit deeper on their rosters for pitching. The Stallions went with
Trace Hodges, who had had a handful of starts and 2026 and an undefeated record.
Hodges got through the 1st frame with no problems, but a leadoff homer in the 2nd turned into a struggle that saw the Loyola score three more for a 4-0 lead.
The Stallions got two of those runs back in the bottom half.
Cameron Campbell began with a walk, but was still on first base with two outs.
Billy Girgis moved him along with a single to right field, followed by another single to right by
Quinten Rawls, scoring Campbell.
Zack Bowman battled through an at-bat that ending with him sending a ball up the middle for another hit and ABAC's second run, courtesy of Girgis.
Hodges settled back in for a 1-2-3 3rd, but ran into trouble again in the fifth. A walk and one-out balk made for further trouble on an error and Loyola got its fifth and final run on a wild pitch.
Red-hot in their first few games at the plate, the Stallions struggled against Thomas Hakimian and Cohen. It was on the basepaths that they garnered their third run in the 6th.
Drew Rothschild walked and advanced to third when
Parker Wallace doubled to the left field wall.
Kyler Cohen ran for Wallace.
Girgis hit a slow roller to second for the second out, but Cohen was spotted wandering off second. Loyola threw over to get Cohen in a rundown and chewed up enough time for Rothschild to score. Cohen was tagged out, but not before Rothschild touched home.
After Bowman and
Chasin Cash had hits to put runners on second and third with one out in the 7th, Hakimian exited for Cohen.Â
ABAC could get no magic working against one of the top closers in the SSAC. Cohen got a foul fly for the second out and got out of the inning without damage. The 8th went 1-2-3. Rawls singled in the 9th, but Cohen clamped down there.
The Stallions had been seeking their first SSAC team title since joining the conference and NAIA in 2024.
After Loyola had early luck,
Lalan Ellis was outstanding in relief the rest of the way. Ellis went 4 2/3 innings, giving up only one hit and striking out two. He allowed two walks and hit one batter. Hodges struck out four in 4 1/3 frames.
ABAC had 10 hits in the championship game, two of them doubles by Cash and Wallace. Rawls, Bowman, Cash and Davis had two hits each.
By making the final, ABAC automatically qualified for the NAIA national tournament. They will now wait for their seed and destination. That will be announced
May 6 at 5 p.m. EST in the NAIA Selection Show.
