CHICAGO (April 23, 2022) – On the first gorgeous day here at Loyola Softball Park, the Loyola University Chicago softball team hosted the Missouri State Bears for the first two games of this Missouri Valley Conference series. After this double header, the Ramblers came out with a 1-1 record, taking down the No. 2 team in the conference in the second game of the day.
GAME 1
The start of this first game seemed like it would go in favor of the Ramblers.
Amelia Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to get teammate
Madison Ebeling home to put Loyola up 1-0 at the bottom of the first. But once the second inning began, the Bears got hot. Missouri State registered 10 runs in this one inning with four home runs, one of which was a grand slam. Even though the Ramblers added two more runs from
Ava Bieneman and Ebeling, it wasn't enough to come back in this game as Loyola ultimately lost 13-3 in this contest.
Ebeling had a great game as she scored two of the team's three runs while Bieneman put up the other run for Loyola. Along with that, Ebeling and
Nova Sinskul each contributed two runs each while Thomas and
Sydney Barnett each had one. Ebeling also stole two bases.
Sydney Ruggles came in to pitch in the final inning, having the strongest performance of the day. She ended up getting three strikeouts to end close out the final inning to stop the bleeding.
On defense. Thomas led the team yet again. She ended the game with nine putouts while
Bri Clifton tallied the most assists with three.
GAME 2
Once the two teams were back on the field for the second game, it was a different story for the Ramblers. Missouri State was the first team on the board as they scored a run in the second and third innings, putting them up 2-0 at the start of the fourth. However, Loyola came back to score one run in the fourth off a single from
Haley Wallace to bring Thomas home to get the Maroon and Gold on the board. From there,
Teagan Sopczak was able to make her way home in the seventh inning off a passed ball, tying up the game and taking it to extra innings. These two teams took the game to nine innings before
Riley Owens scored on an error by the Bears, helping Loyola win against this tough Missouri State team.
Thomas put herself on the board again in this game while Sopczak and Owens made their way around the bases. Wallace had the most hits with two while also adding on an RBI.
Jocelyn Currie also added an RBI on the last run of the game.
Peyton Pepkowski had a phenomenal afternoon on the mound. She had the strikeouts in a single game in her young career with 13, not giving out any walks and only allowing six total hits with the 32 batters faced.
Abbey Jacobsen made the most defensive plays in this game, racking up 13 putouts while Pepkowski, Ebeling and SInskul all had two assists each.
UP NEXT
The Ramblers will be back in action again on Sunday, April 24, for the last game of this series against the Bears. The single game is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. with live stats and a stream available through ESPN+.
