April 15, 2010

Box Score

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Green Bay (19-9, 5-3 Horizon) rallied from a 4-1 deficit and pulled out a 7-6 victory in eight innings over Loyola University Chicago (14-16, 6-6 Horizon) this afternoon at Ben Garot Field. The Phoenix claimed the series, winning two of the three midweek games as the Ramblers fell for just the fourth time in their last 12 outings.

Angie Funston, who has had an outstanding spring both at the plate and in the pitching circle, got the Ramblers on the board in the top of the first inning when she crushed a two-run home run, her eighth of the year, for an early 2-0 advantage.

After Green Bay got a run back in the third inning, Loyola stretched its lead to 4-1 with a pair of runs in the fourth. Jacqueline Grim led off the inning with a double and Tori Spears, who pinch-ran for Grim, would later come around to score on Kristen Medrud's double. Brooke Andresen's single, which extended her hitting streak to 16 games, would score Stevie Bradich, who was running for Medrud, to put Loyola ahead, 4-1.

Green Bay evened things up in the bottom of the fifth however, when Danielle Peerenboom belted a three-run homer to left center, and the Phoenix went ahead (5-4) in the sixth on Melani Niederer's RBI groundout.

Loyola showed its resiliency despite seeing its three-run lead evaporate, as it plated a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to surge ahead, 6-5, thanks in large part to three Green Bay errors in the inning. However, the Ramblers were unable to make that lead stand up as Krissy Hanson's one-out triple scored pinch runner Andrea Pigeon, to tie the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh. Loyola escaped further damage and forced extra innings as it stranded Hanson at third.

After the Ramblers went down in order in the top of the eighth, Jenna Nitti reach on a one-out walk and came around to score the game-winning run on a Rambler error following a single by Sara Junion.

Seven Ramblers tallied a hit off a pair of Phoenix hurlers and Funston drove in a pair with her career-best eighth home run of the season. Stephanie Cihlar tallied a hit, scored a pair of runs and stole two bases.

Loyola is off this weekend and resumes play on April 20 when it hosts a doubleheader versus Saint Louis.