LEADING OFF
Loyola Chicago (1-4, 0-0 A-10) continues its early season schedule at The Fonseca Memorial Tournament at USF in Tampa, Fla., hosted by South Florida. The Ramblers take on three opponents over three days.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
- Friday, Feb. 14 vs. St. John's - 11:30 a.m. | at South Florida – 4:35 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 15 vs. Penn State – 9 a.m. | vs. TBD at TBD
- Sunday, Feb. 16 vs. TBD at TBD
QUICK HITS
- The Ramblers collected its first victory of the season on opening day, a 5-4 win over North Dakota before falling to Omaha twice, Northen Iowa and Drake.
- All six newcomers made their first career starts, Alli Pawlowicz and Averi Vander Woude against North Dakota then Addyson Jones, Abby Johnson, Kayci Rigby and Abby Johnson versus Omaha.
- Senior outfielder Riley Owens led the way with six hits, including a double, and added two RBIs and one run while hitting .353. Her senior counterpart Haley Wallace leads the team in scoring with three runs, making 14 appearances at bat, on .286 hitting.
- In the circle, Andie Broniewicz retired 12 batters across 13.0 innings pitched and posted a 4.85 ERA. She finished the weekend 1-0 and held batters to a .286 average.
- Head coach Alicia Abbott, in her fifth season at the helm of the program, is at 99 career wins in the Maroon and Gold.
- Loyola tabbed No. 3 in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, raking in 84 points, for its second straight season in the league's preseason top three.
SCOUTING REPORT
St. John's opened its season, 1-3-1, collecting its first win, a 5-0 sweep, over Houston Christian before falling to Houston (7-8), being shut out by No. 1 Texas (0-5), dropping, 3-4, to Lamar in extra innings and tying, 2-2, with New Mexico. The Red Storm was picked to finish third in the BIG EAST Softball Coaches' Preseason Poll after finishing 31-27 overall and 13-11 in league play last season. Senior shortstop London Jarrod, named to the All-Conference First-Team in 2024, ranked in the BIG EAST top five in batting average (.405), slugging percentage (.716), on-base percentage (.506), runs scored (19), hits (30), RBIs (22), home runs (6) and total bases (53).
South Florida is currently 3-2 on the season after The USF-Rawlings Invitational, defeating Delaware, 9-1, in six innings and edging out Illinois State, 5-3, before being shut out, 1-0, by Michigan. USF wrapped up its season opening tournament with a 7-4 win over Georgia Southern then were shutout, 8-0, after five innings against No. 2 Florida. The Bulls were picked to finish fifth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll after a 34-22 overall record in 2024 and going 13-14 in league play. Redshirt junior pitcher Payton Dixon returns to USF as a starting pitcher after posting a 17-9 ledger and 1.87 ERA last season.
Penn State softball is 1-4 after the NFCA Leadoff Classic, opening its season against then-No. 7 Duke who shut out the Nittany Lions, 7-0, followed by a 10-9 loss to then-No. 13 Texas Tech. Penn State secured its first win, a 9-1 six-inning victory over Kennesaw State, before falling, 6-1, to then-No. 24 Mississippi State and dropping, 4-2, to Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions finished 35-20 overall last year and 12-11 in Big Ten play. Sophomore pitcher Bridget Nemeth was named a Second Team Preseason All-American by Softball America after guiding the Nittany Lions to its first NCAA Reginal bid in 13 seasons in 2024.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Only games against South Florida will be streamed (ESPN+). Tune into the live stats and follow Loyola on Instagram and X/Twitter @RamblersSB for in-game updates.
