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NORMAL, Ill. – Led by a record-shattering eight home runs between three innings, Illinois State dominated Loyola for a 15-0 win in five innings on Sunday afternoon at Marian Kneer Stadium. The Redbirds sweep of the Ramblers at was the first sweep at Marian Kneer Stadium since 2014.
• The school record eight home runs in today's contest ties the third-most home runs in a single game in NCAA history. Four different teams (Florida twice, UTSA twice, Oklahoma, College of Charleston) achieved eight home runs in a single game seven times prior to the 2017 season.
• The previous Illinois State single-game record was four home runs, matched seven times (Last: Indiana State on April 20, 2011).
• The third inning's four consecutive home runs tied a previous school record from 2010 at Missouri State.
Jordan de los Reyes and Allison Spence led the Redbirds' offensive efforts with two home runs apiece with four and two RBIs, respectively. Both Spence and Annie Heineman were perfect at the plate in the contest. In the third, Alyssa Wiebel and Riley Strandgard connected for two of the Redbirds four consecutive home runs. On her first home run of the season, Caitlyn Daly drove in three, matching the line of Riley Hale with a home run and three RBIs.
Sarah Finck tossed a two-hit gem for her 12th win of the season with the lone hits coming in the second and third innings. Head coach Melinda Fischer now owns 997 wins at Illinois State.
With the Redbirds' record-breaking victory, the home team maintains it first place position in Missouri Valley standings, improving to 19-16 while the visitors fall to 18-17. Illinois State holds a 9-3 league mark with Loyola sliding to 1-11.
The Ramblers threatened in the second on a leadoff single to center. An error put the Loyola in scoring position, but Illinois State's infield held off the visitors.
On her third pitch, Spence rocketed a home run to left field giving the Redbirds the early 1-0 lead in the second inning. Heineman continued Illinois State's offensive efforts with a double to center field before a ground out ended the frame.
An Alex Caliva single opened up the Redbirds' scoring rampage in the third inning. De los Reyes launched the first of four consecutive Redbird home runs off the bats of Spence, Wiebel, and Strandgard. Hale closed out the inning with a three-run bomb to finalize the fourth inning line at nine runs off six hits.
Illinois State picked up where it left off in the fourth inning, beginning with de los Reyes' second home run of the game. Wiebel doubled before Heineman drove in Taylor Vanderpool for the 10th run of the game. Daly knocked the Redbirds eighth gone-ball of the game to center field, plating three runs to give the home team a 15-run advantage.
Loyola made contact in the final inning but could not come away with a hit. Keenan Dolezal took the loss in 2.1 innings of work.
Illinois State wraps up its home stand with Strikeout Cancer Day on Wednesday at 4 p.m. versus DePaul.
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