CHICAGO – Loyola Chicago and Rhode Island face off this weekend in the northeast in another Atlantic 10 packed weekend. The Ramblers and Rams open with a doubleheader Saturday and wrap up with a single game Sunday. First pitch both days is 11 a.m. CT.
Both teams sit at 3-6 in the league standings.
Quick Hits
• The Ramblers have A-10 wins against George Mason and George Washington this season.
• Their first win of conference play was a 10-0 shutout over the Revolutionaries in a six-inning run rule. Loyola then won the series over George Mason with two walk-off wins.
• In A-10 play,
Ava Bieneman leads Loyola batting .429, which is tied 10th on the leaderboards. She has 15 hits ranking second.
• Overall, Bieneman is hitting .324 this season to lead the Ramblers and sit 14th in the league.
Sydney Barnett joins her at 25th hitting .310.
• Barnett has a team-high eight homers this year. It's the second most in the A-10 so far this season.
• In the circle,
Peyton Pepkowski continues to lead the Ramblers. She holds a 3.32 ERA with 100 strikeouts over 109.2 innings pitched. She ranks seventh in ERA and first in strikeouts.
• Pepkowski moved into third all-time with 454 career strikeouts. The all-time record is 753 set by Brittany Gardner from 2011-14.
• Head coach
Alicia Abbott is in her fifth season at the helm. She has 83 wins with the Ramblers.
Scouting Rhode Island
The Rams are 6-23 this season and are tied with the Ramblers at 3-6 in the A-10 standings. Rhode Island picked up a 5-0 win over Bryant early this week helping snap a four-game losing streak. URI has two wins over St. Bonaventure and one vs. Fordham this conference season.
Emily Power leads the Rams batting .319. She has 22 hits, including four homers and a double. Power went 3-for-3 with two home runs and five RBI in the win over Bryant. Avery Vale-Cruz has a team-best ERA at 4.24. She's 1-7 in the circle with 38 innings pitched. Vale-Cruz has 14 strikeouts.
Whitney Goldstein is in her third season coaching the Rams. She is 40-89-1 overall.
