In Short…
Behind a combined eight RBI from Shannon McGee and Allyson Ivey, Loyola bounced back with a 10-4 road victory over Saint Louis University on Thursday (March 14). The 15-4 start to the season matches the 2017 team for the fewest games needed to reach the 15-win benchmark (19 games).
 
Coach Tylka's Thoughts
"It was good to get back on the field even with some tough conditions to earn a win," head coach Jeff Tylka said. "Our pitchers battled all day and made the big pitches when we needed it, and we got a combined eight runs batted in from McGee and Ivey to lead us offensively."
 
How It Happened
A windy day at The Billiken Sports Center turned out a scoreless first two innings to open play on Thursday. The Ramblers had two runners reach in the first and one in the second, but were held off the scoreboard until the third inning.
 
Shannon McGee's second at-bat of the game came with two outs and a runner in scoring position. The centerfielder extended her season team-lead in doubles with a hot shot down the left field line that brought home Jessica Shields and get the Ramblers on the board. Loyola took advantage of a fielding error the very next batter to double the lead to 2-0.
 
In the bottom of the third, Saint Louis cracked the scoreboard with an RBI-single to cut the Rambler lead in half at 2-1. Starter Keenan Dolezal kept the scoring to one, getting the next hitter to ground out.
 
After Dolezal's 3.2 innings of work, Kiley Jones took over in the circle and worked out of a second-and-third situation to preserve the 2-1 lead. The Rambler bats fed off the momentum the following frame with a three-run inning. McGee ripped a double that brought home Brooke Wilson, followed by Allyson Ivey's opposite-field single that scored two.
 
The scoring spurts was present in both dugouts, as the Billikens answered with two more runs in the bottom half of the fifth. SLU's top hitter Sadie Wise narrowed the Rambler lead to 5-3 with a double that plated two.
 
The 3-4 part of Loyola's lineup continued its onslaught of opposing pitching with more extra-base hits. McGee registered her second double of the contest to plate Shields, marking her second outing of multiple extra-base hits this season. One batter later, Ivey blasted her fifth home run of the season that blew the game wide open.
 
Up 8-3 in the top of the seventh, the floodgates opened further as the Ramblers tacked on two runs to widen the lead again. Shields's second hit of the ballgame brought home Caitlin Engelking early in the inning, followed by Ivey's fifth RBI on a fielder's choice that put the Ramblers' run total in double-digits.
 
SLU managed to score a run in its half of the seventh, but it was too little, too late as Jones got the 21^st out one batter later to ink Loyola's 15^th win of the season with a 10-4 win.
 
A Look at the Numbers
-The five RBI's posted by Allyson Ivey marked a personal career high and the most tallied by a Rambler in a game this season.
-The 10-4 win represented the fifth time this season Loyola scored 10 or more runs in a game.
-Thursday was Caitlin Engelking's fourth straight personal game with a run scored.
-Tossing the final 3.1 innings, Kiley Jones earned her first win as a relief pitcher this season.
 
Up Next
Loyola makes the 215-mile trip southwest to begin Missouri Valley Conference play against the Missouri State Bears. The conference-opening series begins with a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday (March 16) and wraps up with one game the following day at 11 a.m.