March 11, 2007

Box Score

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Loyola University Chicago (3-9) dropped a pair of decisions at the Stanford Classic this evening, falling to No. 12 Stanford (20-5), 2-0 and UC Santa Barbara (16-5), 6-4. The losses snapped the Ramblers' two-game winning streak.

Loyola hung tough in the opener against host and 12th-ranked Stanford as the game was scoreless through the first three innings. The Cardinal got on the board in the fourth when Anna Beardman laced a two-out single to left field, scoring Shannon Koplitz, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Stanford added an insurance run in the seventh as Jackie Reinhart ripped a two-out single then proceeded to steal second and third before scoring on a wild pitch.

Becky McCullough stymied the Rambler offense, taking a no-hitter into the bottom of the seventh. Amy Solava broke up her bid for the no-no by reaching on an infield single with two outs in the final inning.

Krista Crosson allowed only one run in four innings of work, while striking out three, before Solava came on in relief to surrender one run and punch out four Cardinal hitters.

In the nightcap, Loyola committed four errors, which led to four unearned runs. The Ramblers drew first blood when Ashley Mitchell led off the game with a walk and scored on Raven Gengler's two-out, two-run homer over the wall in left center to put LU on top, 2-0. That lead was shortlived however, as UCSB answered with a pair of runs of its own in the bottom of the inning to even the contest.

Gengler again provided a big hit in the third inning, tripling to score Ellen Kresl, and Kat Krause followed Gengler's triple with one of her own to give the Ramblers a 4-2 lead. However, the Gauchos again countered with two runs of their own, both unearned, to even the score at 4-4.

Santa Barbara took the lead for good in the fifth when Brittany Putich tripled with one out and scored on Ericka Hansen's RBI single. The Gauchos would add another unearned run in the sixth to seal the outcome.

Gengler went 2 for 3 with a triple, home run and three RBI, while Krause was 2 for 3 with a triple and RBI to lead Loyola's offensive attack.

Loyola wraps up play at the Stanford Classic on Sunday.