In Short…
Loyola earned a Saturday Sweep with two wins over Indiana State. In two different types of results, the Ramblers captured a low-scoring game one on a walk-off single from Jessica Shields, while claiming game two by six runs at a 13-7 clip.
 
How It Happened
Loyola starter Kiley Jones was deadlocked in a pitcher's duel with Indiana State starter Gabbi Schnaiter. The two right-handed hurlers traded zeros for five full innings, while Jones got all but one of her outs on balls put in play. The Valparaiso, Indiana native exceeded 600 career innings after completing the second frame, joining Kari Klier as the only two student-athletes in program history to post 600 or more innings in a career.
 
On her way to the sixth, Jones left the bases loaded twice in the second and third innings, including a bases-loaded, no out jam in the second. However, the Sycamores finally plated a runner in the sixth with a fielder's choice that put them up 1-0. Jones limited the damage by stranding two more to escape further consequences.
 
Needing one to tie and two to win, the Ramblers worked their late inning magic with a seventh inning rally. Needing just four batters to walk it off, Nova Sinskul's leadoff single got the tying run on, with Katie Polaski getting her in scoring position the next at-bat. In a blink of an eye, Jordyn Cordell doubled home Sinskul to tie the game, and Jessica Shields ignited the celebration with a base-hit up the middle that put Loyola in the win column.
 
The polar-opposite game two began its scoring right away with the teams trading RBI-singles in the first inning. Shannon McGee continued her hot hitting by driving in the Ramblers' first run of game two. The Sycamores tallied two more in their half of the third to go up 3-1, but it was all Ramblers in the bottom half of the frame.
 
Loyola sent 15 batters to the plate in the bottom of the third, scored 12 runs on 11 hits and boasted two players with multiple hits in the stanza. The scoring got started with a Brooke Wilson pinch-hit single that tied the game up at 3-3. Sinskul and Caitlin Engelking reached with singles, setting the table for Cordell to blow the game wide open. A bases-loaded triple in the gap widened the lead to 7-3 and set a new career high for RBI in a game with one swing of the bat.
 
The Ramblers added five more to eventually widen the lead to 13-3. Six more hits occurred later on in the inning, and Indiana State even found the third out of the inning on a 2-RBI hit from Sinskul.
 
Indiana State outscored the Ramblers 4-0 the rest of the game, but the large cushion established by the big third inning provided plenty of run support to hold on and win game two. Loyola completed the Saturday Sweep with a final score victory of 13-7.
 
A Look at the Numbers
-The 12 runs in the third inning of game two is a season high for most runs in an inning by the Ramblers.
-Caitlin Engelking's three hits in game two set a new career high.
-Loyola's 13 RBI in game two set a season high, and the 18 hits tied the season high, a clip that was first reached in the Gardner-Webb game back on Feb. 18.
-The Ramblers got seven players to tally multi-hit games in the second Saturday contest, setting a new season-high for that criteria.
 
Up Next
Loyola wraps up the weekend series with Indiana State tomorrow (April 7) at 11 a.m. at Loyola Softball Park. A win for the Ramblers would mark the first MVC series sweep of the season.