CHICAGO (April 16, 2019) – Loyola plays its last road midweek games of the regular season on Wednesday, April 17 at Northern Illinois. The two programs meet for the 42^nd time on Wednesday to continue the non-conference series that dates back to 1992. The doubleheader between the two teams is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: Loyola dropped three games to first place Drake last time out in Des Moines, Iowa. Despite the 0-3 weekend, the Ramblers did not lose any ground on Illinois State in the chase for a MVC Tournament Day One Bye and remain three games back of the Redbirds. In her seven at-bats over the weekend, Madison Ebeling tallied three hits, one of which went for extra bases. The shortstop has hit safely in six of the last eight games, and is hitting .550 in that stretch (11-for-20).

A Look at the Huskies: Northern Illinois enters Wednesday one game under .500 at 20-21, and have won two of their last three. Sitting in seventh place in the MAC, the Huskies enter Wednesday fourth out of 11 teams in runs (170), third in hits (284), second in stolen bases (71) and second in fielding percentage (.967). The team gets to pencil in the league leader in batting average in Katie Keller into their everyday lineup. Keller enters Wednesday hitting .421 with a 1.200 OPS, and has hit safely in five of her last seven games. The Huskies are 8-4 this season when she tallies two or more hits in a game.
 
Series Stuff: The two in-state foes took a one year hiatus last season, but squared off every year since 2014 leading up to last year. The Huskies hold a 21-20 all-time advantage, but the Ramblers have captured seven of the last 11 meetings. The longest winning streak held by either team NIU's six straight victories from 1995-97, but Loyola has two separate winning streaks of five to counter. Jordyn Cordell and Katie Kasubke each has two-hit days with a run driven in during the last meeting back in 2017, with both RBI-hits going for extra bases. The Maroon and Gold have taken two of the last three games when playing in DeKalb.
 
Up Next: Loyola returns home to play a three-game MVC series against Southern Illinois over Easter Weekend. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader at noon on April 19, and finish the series with one game the following Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
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