In Short
Loyola completed its Saturday sweep by defeating Purdue Fort Wayne and Butler. The victory against the Bulldogs came from a walk-off double by Katie Polaski.

Coach Tylka's Thoughts
"The biggest thing for us is to make sure we play well defensively. I think our first three games we played well, but in the [fourth game] it showed a little bit that we're a northern school," head coach Jeff Tylka said. "A lot of confidence comes from that last game. We came back, had a lead and let it slip away, but it lets our kids know that no matter what the situation is we can find a way to pull something out. 
 
How It Happened
The suburb start to the 2019 season continued for the Ramblers with two more wins to improve to 4-0. The team showed two different methods of winning that ultimately netted them a Saturday sweep. Two games had early offense and big outs in late innings to keep the respective scores where they were at.
 
During Loyola's first turn to bat in game one, freshman Madison Ebeling scorched a hot shot to center field that turned into an inside-the-park home run. The hit was her first career and consequently made it her first career home run and RBI.
 
Making her second start in the circle in as many games, Keenan Dolezal registered five scoreless innings and allowed just four hits. Her 1-2-3 first and second innings was followed with a third where she ran into trouble, but kept Purdue Fort Wayne off the scoreboard despite the jam.
 
As the outs continued to happen in game one, the second and final run of the game occurred on a sacrifice-bunt from Ebeling in the fifth that brought home Caitlin Engelking from third. Engelking pinch ran for Abbey Jacobsen earlier in the inning after a leadoff double.
 
With the score doubled in the top of the sixth, Dolezal returned to the circle, but gave the ball to Madison Veres after the leadoff batter singled. Just like she did on Friday, Veres mowed down her hitters and picked up her second save of 2019 to ink Loyola's 2-0 win.
 
Game two featured Loyola's first high-scoring game of the season. It got started right away in the first with an RBI single from Shannon McGee to put Loyola up 1-0. The Ramblers tacked on with a big two-run home run off the bat of Katie Kasubke that extended the lead to 3-0. Loyola threatened for more, but settled for three.
 
Butler got a run back in the top of the second, but Polaski kept up her hot-hitting and drove home Jacobsen with a double to center field to reestablish a three-run lead. The Bulldogs proceeded to hang around and chip away at their deficit, scoring one in the fourth and two in the fifth to tie the game up at 4-4.
 
After a scoreless sixth, the Ramblers got their last at-bats in the seventh and began the inning with a Jacobsen single – her third hit of the game. Two batters later, Polaski delivered yet again with a walk-off double to straight away center field that gave the Ramblers their first walk-off win of the season.
 
A Look at the Numbers
-Freshman Abbey Jacobsen went 5-for-6 on Saturday with a double and a run scored. She now leads the team with a .600 batting average.
-Through four games, Katie Polaski has recorded three doubles and five RBI, already nearing her 2018 total.
-Both Madison Ebeling (Game one) and Katie Kasubke (Game two) logged home runs on Saturday, with Ebeling's coming as an inside-the-park roundtripper.
-In game one, Madison Veres picked up her second save of the season, marking the first time since 2017 a Rambler recorded multiple saves in a season.
 
 
Up Next
Loyola wraps up opening weekend with an afternoon battle against IUPUI. A win would follow suit to the 2017 Ramblers that went 5-0 in the Total Control Sports Invitational.