In Short…
Loyola continued its hot start to the season with two blowout wins on Friday (Feb. 15). The Ramblers defeated Oakland, 10-0, in five innings played, followed by a 14-run explosion in another shutout victory at Gardner-Webb. Kiley Jones earned her 50^th career win in game two.

Coach Tylka's Thoughts
"We really have kept building on each inning and game we play. Today we played pretty week in the first game against Oakland and Keenan [Dolezal] did a really nice job in the circle. Our offense was good from top to bottom and the defense looked solid," head coach Jeff Tylka said. "In the second game against a really good Gardner-Webb team we played our best one of the season. Kiley [Jones] was good in the circle and got some huge outs early with runners on. These two wins were total team wins and our most complete games of the year. Our goal is to build on this momentum and put together a good first inning tomorrow."
 
How It Happened
In the 9 a.m. battle with Oakland, two innings came and went with neither team able to send someone across the plate. Oakland had runners on first and third in the bottom half of the second, but a Keenan Dolezal strikeout shut the door on any rally.
 
The Maroon and Gold put together its best offensive inning of the season to that point during their third turn to bat. The team sent 10 hitters to the plate and picked up six runs on eight hits to take a commanding lead. After back-to-back RBI-singles from Jessica Shields and Shannon McGee put Loyola up 2-0, Katie Kasubke delivered the inning's lone extra-base hit that kick-stated a stretch of five straight Rambler RBI base-knocks that widened Loyola's lead to 6-0 in a blink of an eye.
 
The Ramblers added three more runs before the Grizzlies recorded an out in the top of the fourth. Kasubke's second RBI-double in as many innings was followed by Katie Polaski's fourth double of the year that made it a 10-spot.
 
Now in position for the team's first run-rule of the year, Dolezal stranded two runners in the fourth and fifth innings to preserve the 10-0 lead and complete the victory two-innings ahead of schedule.
 
Kiley Jones got the ball in game two and took the circle for a chance to ink her 50^th career victory. The Valparaiso, Indiana, native was sharp throughout her 7.0 innings pitched, allowing zero runs and only two hits.
 
At the plate, Jones' effort was matched by Gardner-Webb starter Laken Myers for four full innings. In the top of the fifth, Shields broke the scoreless tie by reaching on a two-out error that allowed Jordyn Cordell to come home. Loyola took advantage of the new life in a big way, tacking on four more runs with a 2-RBI triple from Shannon McGee and a two-run home run off the bat of Allyson Ivey. The two-out hits put the Maroon and Gold ahead and in charge at a 5-0 clip.
 
After a scoreless sixth, the Ramblers piled it on in their half of the seventh with nine runs on nine hits. Loyola had bases loaded nobody out for five straight plate appearances that saw the team double the score at 10-0. After Nova Sinskul's 2-RBI double made it the team's second straight 10-spot, Cordell added another 2-RBI hit with a single up the middle to make it 12-0. With two outs, Allyson Ivey collected her fourth hit of the afternoon with an RBI double to cap off the 14-run game for the Ramblers.
 
The following inning, Jones retired the Bulldogs in order to complete the 2-0 start to the weekend's tournament.
 
A Look at the Numbers
-Loyola's 14 runs at Gardner-Webb is the most the program has scored in a game since March 10, 2018 (15 runs scored). The 18 hits is the most since Feb. 28, 2016 (22 hits).
-Over the course of the 2-0 Friday, Loyola outscored its opponents 24-0. The season run differential now sits at +36.
-Allyson Ivey's four hits in game two set a new career high.
-The three hits for Katie Polaski in game two set a new career high and marked her third multi-hit game o the season. She had four her rookie campaign.
 
Up Next
Loyola gets back to work on Saturday (Feb. 16) with an afternoon and evening contest against Sacred Heart and Hartford. First pitch against the Pioneers is set for 3 p.m. CT, while the Ramblers and Hawks will joust approximately 20 minutes after the conclusion of game one.