EVANSVILLE, Ind. (May 12, 2021)
 
In Short
Allyson Ivey's two-out, two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning propelled No. 9 seed Loyola University Chicago (13-28) to a 3-1 victory over host and No. 8 seed Evansville (23-22) this afternoon in a first round game in the Missouri Valley Conference Softball Championship at Cooper Stadium. With the win, the Ramblers live to see another day at the single-elimination tournament and move on to face fifth-seeded Drake tomorrow morning.
 
How It Happened
Loyola, which left 16 runners on base and threatened in every inning, got on the board first, scoring  on Teagan Sopczak's home run that led off the second inning. Sopczak's roundtripper was the first of her collegiate career.
 
Evansville got that run back and evened the contest in the bottom half of the third inning on Jenna Lis' RBI single.
 
The Ramblers couldn't capitalize on a golden scoring opportunity in the top of the fifth. Ivey led off with a single to left, and two outs later, Sopczak singled and pinch hitter Abby Brown drew a walk to load the bases, but Evansville starter Izzy Vetter escaped the jam by striking out Sydney Barnett to end the threat.
 
Loyola reclaimed the lead in the sixth when Madison Ebeling was hit by a pitch, and one out later, Ivey mashed her sixth homer of the season to provide the winning margin. The Ramblers had a chance to inflict further damage on the Purple Aces, but once again, Vetter managed to wiggle her way out of a bases-loaded situation.
 
Meanwhile, Loyola starter Sydney Ruggles did a Houdini act of her own in the sixth and seventh innings, slamming the door on a pair of Aces rallies. The righthander left a pair of Aces on base in the sixth inning and then after Loyola stranded the bags loaded in its half of the seventh, despite Evansville putting the tying run on base with one out, Ruggles escaped unharmed to allow Loyola to win a MVC Championship game for the third time in program history.
 
A Look at the Numbers

• Hours after being named First Team All-MVC, Ivey produced big in the clutch yet again, going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, a home run and two walks.
• Sopczak went 3-for-3 with the aforementioned home run for the second three-hit game of her career.
• Ruggles was great in the circle, scattering five hits and allowing only one run, while striking out six.
• With a second-inning single, Ebeling ran her streak of consecutive games reaching base safely to 17.

 
Up Next
Loyola will face Drake tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT. The winner of that contest will turn around and take on Southern Illinois at 4 p.m. CT.