EVANSVILLE, Ind. (March 21, 2021)
In Short
Host Evansville (13-7, 2-1 MVC) scored all of its runs in two innings, then held off a late rally to get past Loyola University Chicago (5-13, 1-2 MVC), 7-4, Sunday afternoon at Cooper Stadium.
How It Happened
Caitlin Engelking's home run to right center with one out in the top of the third inning put the Ramblers on the board first and they would carry that one-run advantage into the bottom of the fourth. That's when the Purple Aces grabbed the lead on Jenna Lis's two-run blast over the left field fence for a 2-1 Evansville lead.
Evansville padded its lead in the fifth inning, plating five runs, with the majority of the damage coming on Eryn Gould's two-run homer to right and Lis' RBI double.
Loyola got two runs back in the sixth when
Allyson Ivey was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and
Madison Ebeling followed with a two-run shot to left field that sliced the Purple Aces' lead to 7-3.
Amelia Thomas and
Sydney Barnett would each reach on walks following Ebeling's roundtripper, but Loyola was unable to inflict further damage in the inning.
The Ramblers fought back in their last at-bat, inching a run closer on Ivey's sacrifice fly and back-to-back singles by Ebeling and Thomas brought the tying run to the plate with two outs, but Jaime Nurrenbern was able to wiggle out of the jam by getting Barnett to pop up to end the game.
A Look at the Numbers
- Both Ebeling and Engelking homered and tallied a pair of hits to account for nearly all of Loyola's five hits on the day.
- Sydney Ruggles struck out seven over 6.0 innings of work, allowing two earned runs.
- Evansville's Izzy Vetter, who earned the win, struck out 10 Ramblers and scattered two hits over 6.0 innings.
Up Next
Loyola is back in action next weekend when it travels to Illinois State for a three-game series, March 27 and 28.
