CHICAGO - The Loyola University Chicago softball team has finalized its schedule for the upcoming 2015 season, announced head coach Jeff Tylka. The schedule features 15 home contests for the Ramblers, as well as a tournament that they will co-host with UIC in Rosemont, Illinois to kick off the season.

"I think our schedule does a good job of challenging us prior to the MVC Conference season," said Tylka. "Each week will give us a chance to grow as a team and hopefully be playing our best come the end of May."

The 2015 campaign begins with the Total Control Sports Invitational, set to take place Feb. 6-8 in Rosemont, Ill. The following weekend, Loyola will travel to Tucson, Ariz. for the Hillenbrand Invitational before heading to Nashville, Tenn. for the Tiger Softball Classic on Feb. 20-22. One week later, the Ramblers will begin a 10-day stint in South Carolina, starting with the Coastal Carolina Invitational on Feb. 27-March 1. Loyola will play one game at Charleston Southern on March 4 before heading to the College of Charleston for the Holy City Showdown on March 6-8.

The Ramblers will begin conference play on March 14-15 with a three-game series at the University of Evansville. The first home series of the season will take place the following weekend when Northern Iowa makes the trip to Loyola Softball Park on March 21-22, while Bradley will travel to Rogers Park on March 28-29 for a three-game series. The Ramblers will then host UIC on April 1 before traveling to Drake (April 3-4), Northern Illinois (April 8) and Missouri State (April 11-12).

The Ramblers return to Loyola Softball Park on April 15 for a double header against Indiana State, then travel to DePaul the following day before hosting a three-game series against Southern Illinois on April 18-19. Loyola will play four games on the road, traveling to Indiana State (April 22) and Illinois State (April 25-26) before hosting Wichita State (May 2-3) in the final series of the regular season.

After advancing to the title game of the Missouri Valley Conference Championships last season, the Ramblers will look to make another run at the conference tournament on May 7-9 in Wichita, Kan.