Beth Wallace joined Loyola Chicago on August 26, 2019 and will be entering her fifth season on Alicia Abbott’s staff in 2024. A native of La Grange, Illinois, Golitko spent two seasons as the head coach at Western Illinois University before joining the Ramblers’ program.
For the second time in three seasons, the Ramblers placed three players on All-Missouri Valley Conference teams in 2021 and shortstop Madison Ebeling was tabbed MVC Defensive Player of the Year and Second Team All-MVC. First baseman Allyson Ivey, who earned MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team as well as First Team All-MVC honors for the second time as a Rambler, also capped a remarkable four-year career by setting the Loyola career record for runs batted in with 128. Meanwhile, pitcher Sydney Ruggles put it all together in a breakthrough campaign that ended with Second Team All-MVC recognition after she recorded the most strikeouts by a Rambler (169) right-hander since 2004.
In a year shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Golitko helped Loyola to a 12-9 ledger, its first winning season since 2017. Along the way, a pair of Ramblers made their way to the top of Loyola’s career record book, with Jessica Shields wrapping up the season as the program’s all-time leader in batting average (.379), while Shannon McGee joined Brooke Andresen atop the all-time runs scored list with 116.
Under Golitko, the Leathernecks posted a 20-win season in 2019, the program’s most victories since 2017, and also went 12-6 in Summit League play for its second straight third-place finish in the league race. During her time at the helm of the Western Illinois program, she coached 10 student-athletes to All-Summit League accolades and her team also excelled in the classroom, posting a 3.635 grade-point average that ranked as the highest for a single semester in Leathernecks softball history.
As an assistant coach at Western Illinois from 2015 through 2017, Golitko helped guide the Leathernecks to 56 total victories. She also served as a graduate assistant for two seasons (2012 and 2013) at WIU before joining the staff at Cleveland State University as an assistant coach for the 2014 campaign, where she mentored a pair of First Team All-Horizon League selections.
Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Golitko had a successful four-year playing career at Western Illinois, closing her time there as a career .326 hitter with nine home runs and 81 RBI. She was a driving force behind a Western Illinois team that captured the 2008 Summit League Tournament title and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Leathernecks went on to take home back-to-back regular season conference crowns in 2009 and 2010. Golitko was recognized as a First Team All-Summit League honoree as a junior and was also lauded for her work away from the field, earning a pair of selections to the Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence.
