TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2022) – The first day of the season for Loyola University Chicago Softball kicked off today as they played their first two games of the JoAnne Graf Classic hosted by No. 6 Florida State University. 
 
In today's contests the Ramblers competed against the Owls of Kennesaw State and the Bears of Mercer. Following an exciting day with 17 innings of softball, the team came out with a 1-1 record to start the season.
 
GAME 1: RAMBLERS VS OWLS
The game started in favor of Kennesaw State, but it didn't stop the Ramblers from making necessary moves to come back. Although they scored one run in the first inning, the Maroon and Gold chiseled away at the lead gained by the Owls, scoring the equalizing run in the sixth inning. 
 
However, the Owls made their move in the seventh to score three more runs to take the lead. Unfortunately, the Ramblers were not able to make those runs up, resulting in an 8-5 loss to the Owls to start the season. 
 
The seniors led the way for the Ramblers in this first game as Nova Sinskul scored two runs from three hits followed by Abbey Jacobsen with one run and two hits. Freshman Riley Owens and junior Amelia Thomas each made it home as well to help with the comeback. 
 
Along with the offensive pressure added from those runs, Madison Ebeling made contact three times while bringing in one run. Jacobsen also secured her own RBI during this game. 
 
Freshman Peyton Pepkowski received her first start of the season as she played the whole game from the mound. She faced 33 batters, striking out four in her first appearance for the Ramblers.   
 
GAME 2; RAMBLERS VS BEARS
The Bears came out strong right from the beginning. They scored five runs in the first two innings while the Ramblers could not spark anything on offense. 
 
Another inning went scoreless for the Maroon and Gold until the fourth, when four runs were brought in. This gave the Ramblers the much-needed momentum. They went scoreless for two innings before the equalizing run in the seventh, giving them the chance to take this game into extra innings. 
 
And that's exactly what they did. They ran with the opportunity as both teams did not score any runs in the eighth and ninth innings. But from there, it only took one run to come in from Thomas to give the Ramblers the win in just their second game of the season. 
 
Thomas along with Ava Bieneman scored two of these runs for the Ramblers while senior Ebeling and freshman Haley Wallace added one each. Also contributing to the offense for the team was Jocelyn Currie, who registered one RBI and two hits. 
 
On the mound, senior Sydney Ruggles started the contest and pitched four innings, striking out five batters before Andie Broniewicz came in for the final six innings as she secured her first career win.
 
UP NEXT
The Ramblers will be back at it early Saturday morning as they face the Bears of Mercer yet again. Following a 9 a.m. CT match with Mercer, Loyola will take on the No. 6 team in the nation in the Florida State Seminoles. That contest will begin at 11:30 a.m. CT. Live stats will be available for the game with the Bears while the contest against the Seminoles will have live stats and a broadcast on ACC Extra, powered by ESPN.