In Short…
The Ramblers swept their midweek doubleheader against Valparaiso by scores of 4-2 and 9-1 (5 innings) to push their winning streak to five. Allyson Ivey notched five RBI through the twin bill to run her season total to 43, one shy of tying the single-season program record.
 
How It Happened
Each team recorded an RBI single during its turn to bat in the opening inning of game one. It was Allyson Ivey that got the Ramblers on the board with a bloop single to the opposite field that brought home Madison Ebeling. The run gave starter Kiley Jones a fresh start, who spotted zeros over the next three innings.
 
A sacrifice-fly in the fifth got Valparaiso back on top at 2-1, but the lead was short-lived. The Ramblers got the big inning started with back-to-back singles and tied the game back up with an Ebeling sacrifice-fly. The next at-bat, Shannon McGee extended her hitting streak to seven games with a single up the middle that put the home team ahead and in charge. Loyola tacked on one more insurance run with an RBI-double from Ivey, her second hit and RBI of game one.
 
Now with a two-run lead, Jones was lights out from there and with the help of a double-play, retired the next six batters she saw in order. Loyola took the first game, 4-2.
 
The nightcap mirrored game one early on with the Crusaders snagging the early lead with the game's opening run. Once again, the Ramblers responded right away by tying the game the next half inning. Katie Kasubke drew an eight-pitch walk and eventually would find her way home on a wild pitch that evened the contest.
 
The Ramblers posted back-to-back four-spots, beginning with a productive bottom of the third. Jessica Shields' extended her hitting streak to six games with an RBI-single that gave Loyola a 2-1 lead. Two batters later, the Ramblers' red-hot first baseman roped a double to left field that gave Ivey two more RBI. In the last at-bat of the inning, Caitlin Engelking joined the fun with an RBI of her own that widened the lead to 5-1.
 
The Maroon and Gold blew it open with another four-run inning in the fourth. Shields and Ivey each tallied RBI-hits, while Abbey Jacobsen's two RBI-single made it a 9-1 advantage for the home team. Now in run-rule territory entering the fifth, Rambler starter Keenan Dolezal only needed to face four Crusaders to finish off the job and put Loyola in the win column for the fifth consecutive game.
 
A Look at the Numbers
-In Allyson Ivey's last four games, she's hitting .818 (9-for-11), with four extra-base hits an 11 RBI.
-Jessica Shields has recorded two hits in five of her six games through her current hitting streak, a stretch that's brought her season batting average back over .400 (.402).
-Shields swiped two more bases in the doubleheader to give her 33 this year. That clip gives her sole possession of the second highest single-season total in program history.
-The Ramblers have registered 40 runs over their last four games, an average of 10 runs per game.
 
Up Next
The Maroon and Gold head to Des Moines, Iowa to take on the first place Drake Bulldogs this weekend (April 13-14). First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader is thrown at 12 p.m., with Sunday's single game occurring at 11 a.m.