Normal, Ill. – The Loyola University Chicago softball team continued to roll through their first-ever Missouri Valley Conference Championship today, completing a day one sweep with a 6-1 victory over the No. 3 seeded Southern Illinois inside Marian Kneer Stadium in Normal, Ill. With a seventh inning surge that included three doubles and two singles to plate three insurance runs, the No. 7 seeded Ramblers continued to rally behind recently minted MVC Pitcher of the Year Brittany Gardner, as the senior silenced the Southern Illinois bats with a complete-game three-hitter.
The Ramblers kicked off their second game of the day in much of the same way that they started the first game. With two outs, Lauren Moore crushed a home run–her second of the day–over the batting cages in left field to put the Ramblers up 1-0. The roundtripper was her ninth of the season and the 29th of her career, just three shy of the all-time career record at Loyola.
Gardner was back in the circle for Loyola in the bottom of the frame after throwing a complete game shutout versus Drake earlier in the afternoon. After a leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt put a Saluki on second base, Gardner punched out Southern Illinois slugger Jayna Spivey for the second out of the inning. Shaye Harre then hit a harder grounder up the middle that was misplayed by Loyola shortstop Brie Pasquale, allowing one run to score and tying the game at 1-1.
In the top of the fourth inning, Jessica Balzano led off the frame with a double down the left field line and Moore followed it up with a four-pitch walk. After both base runners advanced on a Tarran Shaffer sacrifice bunt, Olivia Bell ripped a two-strike double into left center field to score the pair of runs, giving Loyola a 3-1 lead.
Both teams were held scoreless in the fifth and the sixth inning. In the top of the seventh inning, Annie Korth and Lauren Zaworskiled off frame with back-to-back doubles, scoring one run to put Loyola up 4-1. Jacquelyn Murphy followed it up with a single to right field, and Katy LaCivita then added a double of her own, plating a fifth run to give the Ramblers a 5-1 lead. The inning did not stop there, however, as Balzano crushed a single up the middle to score Murphy and increase Loyola’s lead to five runs, 6-1.
With the three doubles, the Ramblers upped their season total to 64 doubles as team, effectively breaking the single-season school record for doubles (62) set by the 2004 squad. They also broke the single-season school record for runs (204) originally set by the 2004 and 2010 squads.
The Salukis attempted to strike in the bottom of the seventh inning, drawing two walks to put two runners on base. Gardner settled down, however, striking out one and forcing a groundout to end the inning.
Balzano led the Ramblers at the plate, finishing 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. All but two of Loyola’s nine hitters ended the day with at least one hit.
Gardner earned the win in the circle, giving up just one run on three hits and striking out five Salukis in the complete-game victory. With the win, the senior effectively tied the single-season school record for complete games (27) while improving her record to 18-14.
NORMAL, Ill. – The Missouri State softball team (28-26) knocked off the preseason conference-favorites, UNI (28-20) by a 4-3 tally in the opening round of the MVC Tournament in Normal, Ill., on Thursday afternoon. The Bears took a first inning lead and never trailed despite a furious comeback by the Panthers. With the win, head coach Holly Hesse retakes the outright lead in all-time MVC Tournament wins with 69 and her Bears will take on Bradley in the next round at 4:05 p.m. today.
Freshman pitcher Erin Struemph threw a complete game in her first postseason appearance. She struck out six Panthers and did not allow a hit until the fourth inning.
Sophomore Bethany Sullinger tied a school record with her 46th RBI of the season, matching Heather Anderson’s total from 1996.
Senior Ashley Brentz had a pair of hits and scored twice in the win. Fellow senior Heather Duckworth had an RBI double and scored a run. Junior Chelsea Jones had a double and drove in two runs.
Brentz began the game with a single through the left side. Kerri Cunningham followed and was hit by a pitch. Duckworth moved both runners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Then with two outs, Jones roped a double into left-center, plating the first two runs of the game.
Brentz again sparked a rally in the third inning. She dropped a drag bunt down the first base line and reached easily as no one covered first for UNI. Cunningham moved her to second on a ground out. Duckworth lined a double to the left-centerfield gap to drive home Brentz. The double was the 36th of Duckworth’s career, tying her for fifth in school history. Sullinger continued the inning with an RBI double of her own. The run batted in was the 46th of the year for Sullinger, tying the single season school record. Two batters later, Stacia Boeckstiegel was hit with the first pitch she saw, the 21st time in her career. Both runners remained on base as the inning closed.
The Bears looked to add onto the lead in the fourth. Rebecca McPherson scalded a ball off of third base after fouling off several pitches to stay alive to lead off the inning.Braxton Coil got down a sacrifice bunt to move McPherson into scoring position. Brentz was robbed of her third hit of the game on a diving catch by the UNI left fielder. Then with two outs, Cunningham drew a walk, but the Bears were left scoreless in the inning.
UNI got its first hit of the game with one out in the fourth after the ball popped out of Cunningham’s glove on a diving attempt. The Panthers put up four more hits in the inning and drew within 4-3, but Struemph induced a pop up to end the inning with two aboard.
Struemph got out of a couple of late jams, including stranding the tying and winning runs on base to end the game.
