FULL INTERVIEWS: Loyola Wolf Pack head coach, players talk historic NAIA World Series berth – WDSU

In a winner-take-all contest at the NAIA National Championship Opening round on Thursday, the Loyola Wolf Pack took down Ave Maria (Fla.), 8-4, to earn the program’s first trip to Lewiston, Idaho, and the NAIA World Series. No. 13 Loyola opened the tournament with wins over No. 25 Oakland City and No. 5 Reinhardt before Ave Maria gave the Wolf Pack their first loss on Wednesday to force the if-necessary game on Thursday.

Loyola’s first game at the NAIA World Series will be Friday, May 23, and the tournament could last as long as Saturday, May 31. The seeds and the schedule will be released once all of the teams are finalized.

The Wolf Pack had a pair of three-run frames to jump out to a 6-0 lead after three innings. During that time, Cole Bordes held the Gyrenes to just one base runner, but he faced the minimum through the first 11 batters thanks to a double play turned by the Loyola infield.

After threatening in the first, Loyola got its first scoring rally started in the second with a lead off hit by pitch for Marcus Steen and Drew Lee reaching on an error. Anthony Fernandez scored the first run on a sacrifice fly, then the order flipped back to the top, and Brandon Mooney and Myles Liggans each recorded RBI base hits, 3-0.

Steen and Lee, again, got the offense going in the third inning, as Steen notched a two-out double and Lee reached on an infield single and an error that led to a Wolf Pack run, 4-0. Another Ave Maria error with Fernandez at the plate made it a 5-0 lead, and Jaxon Buratt singled to push the advantage to six.

Ave Maria chipped into the lead with a run in the fifth and three more in the seventh, 6-4. Bordes got the win after going the first 6.2 innings, striking out two while scattering six hits.

The Wolf Pack added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth. Steen singled with one out, then moved to third on two wild pitches. Fernandez stepped up and blasted a two-run homer to right-center to put the Pack up by four, 8-4.

Caden Durand tossed the final two innings to receive the save, and he didn’t give the Gyrenes much of a chance. Ave Maria had a batter reach in the eighth on an error with one out, but Durand struck out the next batter he faced and got a fly out to end the inning. Ave Maria, again, got a baserunner on with one out, but Durand got another batter to fly out, then the final out was recorded when Landon Manson picked up an easy ground ball to first.

Loyola earned its program-first berth to the NAIA World Series in Jeremy Kennedy‘s sixth season. The Wolf Pack skipper has now brought three programs to Lewiston, Idaho, in his 17-year head-coaching career.

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