May 8, 2010
Box Score
CHICAGO - On a blustery, overcast day typical of March weather as opposed to May, Loyola University Chicago (20-24, 8-12 Horizon) rode its senior class to a 9-1 victory over Detroit (3-37, 0-22 Horizon) in six innings this afternoon at Loyola Softball Park. The Ramblers honored their five seniors prior to first pitch and then Amy Solava and Angie Funston, two of those seniors, helped spark the victory.
Loyola raced out to a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back as it snapped a five-game losing streak. The Ramblers, who have feasted on Titans pitching since the start of the 2007 season to the tune of a 96-28 scoring edge, got all the runs they would need in the bottom of the first inning. Funston's two-run single with one out brought around Brooke Andresen, who had led off the frame with a single, and pinch runner Tori Spears. Later in the inning, Solava stroked a single up the middle to plate Funston and give Loyola a three-run cushion.
After the Ramblers tacked on a run in the third inning, Detroit finally broke through against Funston when Erica Houthoofd clubbed a solo home run to left field to get the Titans with three runs at 4-1. But, that would be all the damage Detroit would do against Funston, who would allow just one hit the rest of the way en route to her 11th victory of the spring.
In the fifth, pinch hitter Lauren Arceneaux tripled to score Solava, who had led off the inning with a double, and Arceneaux herself would later score on a wild pitch as Loyola stretched its lead to a comfortable 6-1 margin. Solava would finish off the scoring and the Titans with one out in the bottom of the sixth when she crushed a bases-clearing double to provide the final margin of victory.
Solava finished her perfect day at the plate 4-for-4 with four RBI, while Funston, in addition to allowing only three hits and striking out a career-high eight batters, drove in two runs and scored twice. Andresen tallied three hits out of the lead-off slot and has now hit safely in 29 of the last 30 contests.
Loyola and Detroit wrap up the regular season with a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m. The Ramblers are still clinging to hope for a berth in next weekend's Horizon League Championship, but should Green Bay win one game tomorrow versus Youngstown State, the Ramblers would be eliminated from postseason contention.
