CHICAGO (April 28, 2023) - Loyola's final regular season road trip is this weekend at Fordham, who will host the A-10 Championships in May. The Ramblers are coming off a sweep of Rhode Island, while the Rams dropped a game to Stony Brook earlier this week after sweeping UMass last weekend. The games will be streamed on ESPN3, while live stats can be followed through Fordham softball.
LEADING OFF
• Loyola's sweep vs. Rhode Island is the third sweep against an A-10 opponent this season for the Ramblers. They also have sweeps vs. Saint Joseph's and George Washington.
• The Ramblers are a perfect 11-0 on their home turf. It is the best start to the home season since 2000 when Loyola started the year 8-0 at home. If the Ramblers hold off Dayton next weekend, it would mark the first perfect home record in program history.
• Loyola recorded its 20th win of the year against URI. It is the first time the Ramblers have reached 20 or more wins under head coach
Alicia Abbott. It is also the first time the team has hit 20 wins since a 25-25 record in 2019.
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Peyton Pepkowski notched her fourth shutout of the season last weekend with a 2-0 win against Rhode Island. In the game, Pepkowski retired 10 Rams for her third game with double-figure Ks. Pepkowski leads Loyola with 132 strikeouts this year and improved to 10-10 in the circle.
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Andie Broniewicz also held strong in the circle not giving up an earned run against the Rams. She picked up her seventh win in the circle and gave up just five hits
• Against the Rams,
Sydney Barnett hit .400 with two hits and four runs scored. She also batted in two runners.
Nova Sinskul joined her with a solid weekend at the plate hitting .429.
• Head coach
Alicia Abbott is in her fourth year at the helm. During her tenure, the Ramblers are 62-87.
SCOUTING THE FORDHAM RAMS
The Rams are 17-25 overall, 8-9 in A-10 play heading into this weekend's action with the Ramblers. Fordham dropped a non-conference game at Stony Brook Wednesday after sweeping UMass last weekend. The Rams shutout UMass in two straight games before run-ruling game three, 10-2, in six innings. As a team, they're hitting .239 with 257 hits and counting. In the circle, the Rams have a 4.24 ERA with seven combined shutouts.
RAMS TO WATCH
• Neleh Nogay leads the team hitting .376. She is the lone Ram above .300 with 41 hits. She has two extra-base hits with 17 runs and six RBI. Nogay also leads the Rams with 11 stolen bases and has only been caught once. Nogay is on a four-game hitting streak and was 2-for-3 in all three games vs. UMass.
• Sydney Wells has a team-high seven homers and 28 RBI. She also has five doubles and leads the team with a .500 slugging percentage.
• In the circle, Holly Beeman is 7-7 with a team-best 1.93 ERA. She's made 12 starts over 18 appearances. Over 88.2 innings of work, Beeman has 48 strikeouts and three shutouts.
SERIES HISTORY
The teams have met once back in 1999. The Ramblers won, 5-1.
