May 10, 2007
Box Score
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Nora Schober drove in three runs and Amy Solava threw a complete-game shutout to lead top-seeded Loyola University Chicago (21-19) past No. 8 Detroit (11-30), 4-0 this afternoon in opening round action at the Horizon League Softball Championship at Viking Field. The Loyola victory sets up a second-round showdown with city rival UIC tomorrow at 11 a.m. Eastern in the double-elimination tournament.
Detroit threatened in the first inning after Sarah Dickey led off with a double and Kaleigh Rafter drew a base on balls, but Solava settled down and worked her way out of trouble thanks to some solid defense. The freshman right-hander got Michelle Baggio to ground into a double play and Schober later gunned down Rafter easily at the plate as she was trying to score from second on Adrienne Baran's single to center field.
Loyola carried that momentum into the bottom of the inning, scoring the first run of the game on Schober's squeeze bunt. The Ramblers hung two more runs on the board in the third inning when Ashley Mitchell stole third and scored on a throwing error and Schober singled home a run for a 3-0 lead.
Schober, who last season set a Horizon League Championship record with 10 RBI, was at it again in the fifth inning helping Loyola pad its lead with a RBI single that scored Lindsay O'Gean.
Detroit mounted a final rally in the seventh, putting runners at second and third with one out, but again, Solava, the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year, escaped the jam, striking out Jacqueline Nortman and inducing Dickey into a groundout to first.
O'Gean, Kat Krause and Schober tallied a pair of hits apiece to lead Loyola's offensive attack, while Solava scattered six hits and struck out seven en route to her 12th win of the year.
In other Horizon League Championship action today, No. 7 Wright State stunned No. 2 Cleveland State, 4-3, No. 6 Butler edged No. 3 UW-Green Bay, 2-1 in 12 innings, and No. 4 UIC slipped past No. 5 Youngstown State, 1-0. Wright State will face Butler in the winner's bracket at 9 a..m. Eastern tomorrow, followed by the Ramblers' meeting with the Flames.
