Jeff Tylka will begin his sixth season at the helm of the Loyola University Chicago softball program in 2020 after serving as an assistant coach for three years. The program's eighth ever head coach is one of four to lead the Ramblers to over 100 career wins, and recently reached the third highest win mark among LUC softball skippers, entering 2020 with 111 to his credit.
The Ramblers exceeded expectations once again in 2019 by entering the MVC Tournament as the No. 8 seed despite checking in 10th in the preseason coaches poll. Under Tylka's tutelage, the Ramblers starting nine produced one of the best offensive seasons in program history, establishing new single-season team records for runs (239), hits (403), RBI (214) and batting average (.303) en route to reaching the 25-win benchmark for the second time in the last three seasons.
Numerous Ramblers took home individual honors for their standout 2019 seasons, headlined by Allyson Ivey earning First Team All-MVC and First Team National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Midwest accolades, Loyola's second ever First Team All-District winner. The first baseman not only set a Loyola single-season record with 54 RBI while also hitting a whopping .460 (63-for-137), which is both a Loyola and MVC single-season record for batting average.
Joining Ivey in the standout 2019 season department was outfielders Shannon McGee and Jessica Shields. McGee was named Second Team NFCA All-Midwest, while Shields took home Third Team recognition. Both were named Second Team All-MVC. Shields, a transfer from UW Parkside, was tabbed MVC Newcomer of the Year and etched her name in the Loyola record book by stealing 35 bases to eclipse the previous single-season school mark of 34 set by Tara Miller in 2006.
2019 was also a successful season in the classroom for the Loyola softball student-athletes, as Jones and Ivey were named MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team, and Katie Kasubke and Brooke Wilson collected honorable mention recognition to give LUC four representatives in that prestigious conference honors class.
Tylka piloted the Ramblers to 23 victories in 2018, including an 8-4 win at Notre Dame, the program’s first decision over a Power 5 conference opponent since 2016, and a 3-0 win against Drake, the Bulldogs’ only loss in league play all spring. For the first time since 2016, Loyola produced a NFCA All-Midwest Region selection when Ivey and Jones garnered third-team recognition.
McGee cemented her status as one of the premier players in the Missouri Valley Conference, turning in one of the best offensive seasons in program history en route to First Team All-MVC accolades. McGee batted a team-best .372 and and led the team in several offensive categories, while striking out just seven times all year. Off the field, Wilson was tabbed Google Cloud First Team Academic All-District, becoming the first Rambler to earn the accolade since 2013.
Despite being picked last in the MVC Preseason Poll in 2017, Tylka steered his squad to its most successful season in four years, earning a berth in the MVC Tournament for the first time since 2014. He guided one of the youngest teams in the nation to 27 wins, the program’s most since 2013. Loyola got off to a blazing 14-0 start, the best in program history and the 14 wins set a school standard for most consecutive victories.
Sophomore Katie Kasubke earned MVC All-Defensive Team accolades in 2017 and was named to the MVC All-Tournament Team, while the Rambler pitching staff posted a league-best 2.40 ERA and Kiley Jones won the most games (19) by a Loyola righthander since 2004. Senior Erica Nagel closed out her career ranked sixth on Loyola’s all-time chart with 169 hits.
Loyola improved by six games in the win column in 2016 and hit .275 as a team, while also trimming a full run off its earned run average. Thriving under Tylka’s mentoring, Nagel set a Loyola and Missouri Valley Conference record by hitting .453 with 72 hits. Thanks to that record-setting campaign, Nagel was named First Team All-MVC and Second Team All-Midwest Region. In addition to Nagel’s breakthrough season, Brooke Wyderski hit .416, giving the Ramblers multiple .400 hitters in the same season for the first time in school history.
Tylka guided the program to victories over Power 5 programs Iowa and North Carolina State last season, marking the 11th time in the last 12 years that Loyola has knocked off a Power 5 team.
Eleven Ramblers were named to the MVC Honor Roll for their achievements in the classroom in 2016, and Ashley Rogers was selected to the MVC Softball Scholar-Athlete Team.
After losing the 2014 Missouri Valley Pitcher of the Year Brittany Gardner and Lauren Moore, the school's all-time leader in runs batted in, Tylka led an extremely young group to 15 wins in 2015. Wyderski was another example of Tylka's recruiting success, leading the team in all three triple-crown categories. Wyderski set Loyola freshman records in both home runs (12) and RBIs (37) while hitting at a .302 clip. Tylka also saw second baseman Jessica Balzano close out her stellar career by earning Second Team All-Missouri Valley honors after hitting .346 with 12 runs scored and eight runs driven in during conference play.
The team's performance in the classroom was nearly as impressive. Katy LaCivita, Brie Pasquale, Ashley Rogers, Tarran Shaffer and Kristina Vizza were all named NFCA Division I All-America Scholar-Athletes while Rogers became the first Loyola student-athlete to earn an Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award. Bestowed by the Lincoln Academy, the award is presented to one senior from each of the state's four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities, and one student from the community colleges in Illinois for excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities.
Tylka enjoyed tangible success in his three seasons as an assistant coach, where he worked, primarily, with Loyola's hitters. The Ramblers had 11 players earn all-conference honors during his tenure, including three (Gardner, Moore and Shaffer) taking home All-Missouri Valley accolades in 2014. He presided over an offense that set a school record with 44 home runs in 2013 while, individually, Moore finished her illustrious career as Loyola's all-time leader in RBI (124) while ranking third with 29 career round-trippers.
In 2014, the Ramblers concluded their first season in the Missouri Valley Conference with 11 wins and advanced to the title game of the conference championships. Gardner was named MVC Pitcher of the Year, while Moore and Shaffer also earned All-Conference honors. The squad also set new single-season school records in two categories, racking up 193 RBIs and 67 doubles, en route to a 25-31 overall record.
His diligent work with the Ramblers' hitters in 2013 resulted in the team setting a new single-season record with 44 home runs, while also equaling the mark for RBI (174). For the second consecutive year, Loyola collected three wins over BCS conference foes, and off the field, the program was presented the Horizon League Community Outreach Award for its excellent community service efforts.
Four Ramblers grabbed All-Horizon League recognition in 2013, and Moore had a breakthrough season, hitting a Loyola single-season record 13 home runs, while also driving in 42 runs, a total that fell two short of matching the school record, en route to NFCA Second Team All-Great Lakes Region status. Working with Tylka, senior Brooke Andresen became the first player in Loyola annals to earn first team all-conference honors for the fourth consecutive year, and the sweet-swinging lefty closed out her illustrious career as the school's all-time leader in at-bats (637), hits (215), and runs (116), and her .338 career batting average ranks among the top five in Loyola history. In addition, Pasquale, a Second Team All-Horizon League honoree, set a Loyola single-season record for home runs by a freshman (9).
In his first season at Loyola in 2012, Tylka helped the Ramblers to a second-place finish in the Horizon League regular-season standings as the team recorded the second-most conference wins (15) in school history. Loyola also made its first appearance in the Horizon League Championship title game since 2004. After starting the year with a 4-12 record, the Ramblers finished with a flourish, going 22-11 to close out the season, defeating three BCS conference schools along the way, including traditional powers Northwestern and DePaul.
Tylka worked closely with five All-Horizon League selections in 2012 as Andresen and Gardner picked up first team honors, while Lauren Arceneaux, Jessica Balzano and Annie Korth collected second team accolades. Gardner was also tabbed Horizon League Pitcher of the Year and became only the fifth player in school history to earn NFCA All-Region recognition.
The 2012 Ramblers established a school record for fewest errors in a single season (47) and the offensive flourished under Tylka's tutelage, batting .274 as a team. As the head coach at Antioch, Tylka compiled a 91-17 (.843) record and saw a number of his players move on to play collegiate softball. In 2010, Tylka steered Antioch High School to a school-record 32 victories and a third-place showing at the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) 3A state tournament. One of his most prized pupils at Antioch was current Loyola third baseman Lauren Moore, who has started all 101 games in her collegiate career. During the 2009 campaign, Tylka piloted the Sequoits to 32 wins and a regional championship.
In addition to his success as the head coach at Antioch High School, Tylka served four years as an assistant coach for the Illinois Chill 18U Gold Softball squad. While with the Chill, Tylka filled the role of hitting instructor and defensive coordinator.
A former baseball team co-captain at Knox College, Tylka also lettered in football and basketball there. A 2001 graduate of Knox, he earned a master's degree from Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minn., in 2004.
Tylka, his wife Amanda, and their two sons Colten and Jace, reside in Chicago.
