CHICAGO – Loyola Chicago softball stays in state for another non-conference tournament next weekend. The Ramblers take a trip down to Southern Illinois for a pair of games against the Salukis and two more against Green Bay.
Weekend Schedule
Saturday – 11 a.m. – vs. Green Bay
Saturday – 1:30 p.m. – at SIU
Sunday – 11 a.m. – vs. Green Bay
Sunday – 4 p.m. – at SIU
Quick Hits
• The Ramblers improved to 8-8 after picking up two straight wins to close last weekend's action vs. Illinois State (2-0) and at SIUE (8-7).
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Peyton Pepkowski pitched lights out against the Redbirds, retiring 10 batters. It's the second time this season she's struck out at least 10.
• The shutout marks Loyola's fourth this season, and Pepkowski's third. The Ramblers lead the Atlantic 10 in shutouts.
• Pepkowski also ranks in the league's top-10 in ERA (seventh – 2.40), opponent batting average (third - .221), innings pitched (first – 55.1), strikeouts (first – 49), and wins (second – 5).
• Loyola's win over SIUE came in extra innings.
Sydney Barnett's sac fly in the eighth helped plate
Ava Bieneman for the winning run.
• Against the Cougars,
Teagan Sopczak became the third Rambler to hit a grand slam this season. She finished the game with a career-high five RBI.
• Barnett is leading Loyola batting .277 with 13 hits. She has three doubles and three home runs. Barnett leads Loyola with 16 RBI and 13 runs.
• Head coach
Alicia Abbott is in her fifth season at the helm and has led Loyola to 77 wins.
Scouting Green Bay
The Phoenix have dropped their last four games and enter the weekend 4-11. Green Bay is batting .207, ranking seventh in the conference. Last year, the Phoenix finished the year 22-31 overall and 12-10 in the Horizon League. They were tabbed fifth in this year's poll.
Bella Herman leads Green Bay at the plate, batting .293 this season. She has a team-leading 12 hits, including one triple. Herman has four RBI, one run, and one stolen base. In the circle, Ava Schill sits at 2-1 with a team-leading 2.92 ERA. She's struck out 12 batters over 26.1 innings of work this season.
Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis are 11-4 overall and are riding a four-game win streak into this weekend's play. Last weekend, they swept Dayton and shutout Western Kentucky and beat Northern Illinois. Southern Illinois was tabbed second in the MVC Preseason Poll after winning last season's championship and earning and NCAA Tournament berth.
Sidney Jones is batting .382 this season through 12 starts for SIU. She has 13 hits, including two doubles, a triple, and homer. Jones has 11 RBI and eight runs scored. Maddia Groff is undefeated in the circle sitting at 8-0 over nine appearances. She leads SIU with a .53 ERA and has retried 55 batters so far this season.
