April 29, 2008

Box Score

CHICAGO - Samantha Vargocko scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning to provide the winning margin as Western Michigan (18-15) defeated Loyola University Chicago (15-23-1), 2-1 this afternoon at a frigid Loyola Softball Park. The loss is the Ramblers' fourth in a row and extends their winless streak to seven games.

In the top of the third inning, Haley Ambrosch singled down the left field line with two outs and promptly stole second base to give the Ramblers a runner in scoring position. Ellen Kresl reached on an infield single and Ambrosch got hung up coming around third, forcing a rundown, but was able to beat the throw home to give Loyola a 1-0 lead.

Western Michigan countered with a run of its own in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game on Lexi Jager's line-drive home run over the fence in left field. The game stayed that way until the top of the sixth when the Broncos claimed the lead for the first time in the contest. Vargocko ripped a double down the left field line with one out and moved to third on a groundout before scoring on the wild pitch.

The Ramblers would not go quietly and threatened in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to push across the tying run. Nora Schober led off the inning with a walk. After a fly out, Schober stole second and later moved to third on a groundout to give Loyola a runner on third with two outs, but Kyla Sullivan slammed the door on the Ramblers' rally, striking out Amy Solava to end the threat.

Solava was solid in the circle for Loyola, allowing two earned runs, while striking out eight, in the complete-game effort.

Loyola wraps up the regular season by hosting Horizon League foe Detroit in a three-game weekend series, May 3-4.