MADEIRA, Fla. (March 4, 2020) – The Loyola University Chicago softball team continues competition at The Spring Games this weekend, this time playing in Madeira, Florida. The Ramblers will compete in a series of five games in three days, playing against teams such as Florida Gulf Coast (March 5), St. Bonaventure (March 5), Central Michigan (March 6), Iowa (March 6), and South Dakota State (March 7). All games will be broadcasted on flosoftball.com.
Last Time Out: Loyola (11-5) finished 4-2 at The Spring Games in Longwood, Florida last weekend, posting two shutout victories. In the Ramblers 3-0 victory over Dartmouth, sophomore
Sydney Ruggles pitched all seven innings for a complete game, only allowing six hits and four walks, while striking out five batters.
Emily Borg hit her first home run of the season in Loyola's 11-3 win over Albany, and later in the day
Shannon McGee and
Nova Sinskul each recorded their first home runs of the season in Loyola's 3-0 victory over Dartmouth. Senior
Jessica Shields leads the Ramblers with a .388 batting average and 19 hits, while junior
Allyson Ivey leads the Ramblers with a .605 slugging percentage, 18 RBI and two home runs.
Scouting the Eagles: Florida Gulf Coast currently sits 13-6 overall having recently lost to Miami, 3-2 on Sunday. FGCU finished 29-22 (13-7 ASUN) last season and placed third in the league standings during the regular season. Reedy Davenport, the 2019 ASUN Freshman of the Year, is FGCU's leading returning hitter after producing a .291 average. Davenport recorded 43 hits that included seven doubles, four home runs and 24 RBI. Marissa Mesiemore comes back to the circle as she collected 10 wins, holding a 1.80 ERA. Both Davenport and Mesiemore were named to the preseason All-Conference list players January. David Deiros is in his 18th season as head coach. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the dirt up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 655-343-3 (.657) record, going 147-90 (.620) in the ASUN.
Scouting the Bonnies: St. Bonaventure fell in their first two games this season to Incarnate Word, 9-1 and Sacred Heart, 17-1. The Bonnies return 15 players from last season's roster and nine newcomers, including senior Rylee Hehir. Hehir won a team-high five games last season while also leading with 49 strikeouts. Entering her final season in the circle, Hehir sits sixth all-time in program history with 157 career strikeouts, eighth in career starts with 43 and ninth all-time with 64 career appearances. Also returning is senior shortstop Brooke Kane-Walker. She is the leading hitter returning from last year's team with a .306 batting average. Kane-Walker also led the Bonnies with 27 RBI and 57 total bases a season ago.
Scouting the Chippewas: Central Michigan currently sits 1-9 overall and is on a four-game losing streak, with their most recent loss to No. 21 James Madison on Sunday. The Chippewas were picked to finish sixth in the Mid American Conference Preseason Poll. The Chippewas, who finished 22-28-1 (11-9-1 Mid-American Conf.) last season, are led by McCall Simon, who is in her second season as head coach of the program. Gisele Acuna leads CMU with a .278 batting average,.500 slugging percentage and three RBI.
Scouting the Hawkeyes: Iowa (14-4) returners 15 letterwinners from the 2019 squad and also welcomes 11 newcomers, six of which are transfers. Senior Allison Doocy begins the final year of a stellar career at Iowa. Heading into her senior season, Doocy ranks seventh in strikeouts in Iowa history and has been named All-Big Ten and All-Midwest Region the last two seasons. Doocy finished 2019 fifth in the Big Ten in innings pitched with 187, fourth in batters struck out (195), 10th in wins (14), and 10th in ERA (2.70).
Scouting the Jackrabbits: South Dakota State (8-6) is currently riding a three-game winning streak with victories over Montana, Marist and Boston. The Jackrabbits welcomed eight newcomers and 13 letterwinners, including all six pitchers from 2019. Kendra Conard and Peyton Daugherty return for SDSU. Conard, an All-Summit League First Team performer in 2019, appeared in 29 games a year ago with 26 starts. She went 17-7 on the season with a team-best 1.35 WHIP and 2.87 earned run average. Daugherty started all 55 of her appearances as the team's primary designated player last season. She racked up 43 hits in her rookie campaign and had six doubles.
Series Stuff:
- FGCU leads Loyola 1-0 after their last meeting in 2013 resulted in a 2-5 loss for the Ramblers.
- Loyola hasn't met St. Bonaventure since 2009, when they defeated the Bonnies, 8-0.
- Central Michigan leads Loyola 1-2 after their last meeting in 2013 resulted in a 2-3 loss for the Ramblers.
- The series between Loyola and Iowa is tied, 1-1. Loyola defeated the Hawkeyes, 4-0 in 2016.
- Lastly, the Ramblers lead the series against South Dakota State, 1-0, defeating them 2-1 in 2018.
Up Next:
With the conclusion of The Spring Games, Loyola heads to Bradley on Saturday, March 14 to begin Missouri Valley Conference play.
