CHICAGO – After opening the season 4-0, the Ramblers look to keep their strong start going this weekend at the Bubly Invitational hosted by Florida in Gainesville this weekend. While there, Loyola Chicago will play three opponents over five games.
Weekend Schedule
Friday – 11:30 a.m. CT – College of Charleston
Friday – 4:30 p.m. CT – Florida
Saturday – 9 a.m. CT – College of Charleston
Saturday – 4:30 p.m. CT – Georgia Southern
Sunday – 8 a.m. CT – Georgia Southern
Quick Hits
• Loyola is off to its best start since 2017 after going 4-0 over opening weekend. That season the Ramblers won their first 14 games of the year.
• The Ramblers posted a 1-0 shutout against Towson in the opener and followed up with a 3-1 win over host USC Upstate. Day two action got started with a 4-2 win over Toledo and closed in six innings against South Carolina State, 13-5.
• In the circle,
Andie Broniewicz tossed the shutout over the Tigers and retired eight batters in the win. She finished the weekend 2-0 with 11 total strikeouts.
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Peyton Pepkowski earned the other two wins. She posted a .68 ERA and struck out 10 over 10.1 innings of work.
• The Ramblers tallied 24 hits, including 14 against the Bulldogs in the final game of the weekend. Loyola tallied two doubles, one triple and one homer.
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Ava Bieneman led the way with five hits, including a triple. She hit .417 with one RBI and four runs.
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Hannah Nalley recorded two double and also scored four runs for the Ramblers.
• Head coach
Alicia Abbott is in her fourth season at the helm. She has 73 career wins at the helm.
Scouting College of Charleston
Last season the Cougars finished 19-32 overall and 11-12 in CAA action. They fell in the opening round of the CAA Tournament to Stony Brook to end the 2023 campaign. Last weekend, College of Charleston dropped its first three games of the year before rallying with two straight wins over Cleveland State and Saint Joseph's.
Shealyn Starks led the Cougars at the plate last weekend batting .412 with seven total hits. She scored two and brought two in. In the circle, McKenna Kelly tossed 16.0 innings to carry the load. She posted a 3.06 ERA over three appearances and struck out six.
Scouting Florida
The Gators enter the weekend 6-1 after a hot start to 2024. They currently sit at No. 16 in the NFCA Top-25 Poll. Florida earned a 1-0 shutout over Oregon State in the opener before dropping a 10-inning battle to Michigan, 2-1. The Gators then rallied for five straight wins, including two run-rules over Illinois State and Bethune-Cookman.
Miller pitched a perfect game in Florida's 16-0 win over Bethune-Cookman. She faced the minimum 15 batters and tossed just 50 pitches, becoming the first freshman to achieve the feat in program history. Ava Brown is 3-0 in the circle, while Keagan Rothrock is 2-1 with 23 strikeouts. At the plate, Skylar Wallace is batting .545 with 12 hits, including two doubles, one triple, and two homers. She has nine RBI and 10 runs.
Scouting Georgia Southern
The Eagles opened the season 4-1 last week. They fell in the opener to Massachusetts before winning four straight against Merrimack, UMass, and Radford to cap the weekend. Georgia Southern battled Radford in extras to come away on top, 2-1.
Delanie Thames made four starts and is batting .556 to lead the Eagles. She recorded five hits, including a triple. Emma Davis and Katie Perkins are both above .400 with a team-high eight hits each. Bailey Holland leads Georgia Southern with a 2-0 record in the circle. She has a shutout and seven strikeouts over 8.2 innings of work.
