X 2020 MEDIA GUIDE 1 2020 LOYOLA SOFTBALL MEDIA GUIDE 2020 ROSTER FRONT (L-R): Abby Brown, Allyson Ivey, Bri Clifton, Madison Ebeling MIDDLE ROW: Assistant Coach Beth Golitko, Assistant Coach Jackie Manrique, Shannon McGee, Katie Polaski, Jessica Shields, Dani Brown, Sophie Van Acker, Caitlin Engelking, Head Coach Alicia Abbott BACK ROW: Sydney Ruggles, Amelia Thomas, Nova Sinskul, Madison Veres, Emily Borg, Hailey Crabtree, Abbey Jacobsen 2020 LOYOLA SOFTBALL MEDIA GUIDE 2 2020 NUMERIC ROSTER No. Name Yr. Pos. Ht. B/T Hometown/High School/Last College 2 Abbey Jacobsen So. C 5-8 R/R Barrington, Ill./Barrington 3 Sophie Van Acker Jr. UTL 5-6 L/R Milford, Mich./Mercy High School 5 Nova Sinskul So. SS 5-8 R/R Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos 6 Caitlin Engelking Jr. OF/SS 5-3 L/R Bourbonnais, Ill./Bishop McNamara 7 Amelia Thomas Fr. INF/UTL 5-8 R/R Andalusia, Ill./Rockridge 9 Abby Brown Fr. OF 5-4 R/R Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville 10 Dani Brown Fr. P 5-7 R/R Aurora, Ill./Aurora Central Catholic 11 Hailey Crabtree Fr. INF/UTL 5-8 R/R Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Tremper 12 Sydney Ruggles So. P 5-8 R/R Carpentersville, Ill./Dundee-Crown 15 Madison Ebeling So. SS/2B 5-4 R/R Bartlett, Ill./Wheaton Academy 16 Allyson Ivey Jr. C/1B 5-5 R/R Hamilton, Ohio/Ross 18 Emily Borg Sr. 1B 5-9 R/R Carpenterville, Ill./Jacobs 21 Madison Veres Jr. P 5-10 L/L South Milwaukee, Wis./South Milwaukee 24 Bri Clifton So. P 6-0 R/R Romeoville, Ill./Montini Catholic/Nichols State 28 Jessica Shields Sr. OF 5-6 L/R Algonquin, Ill./Huntley (UW-Parkside) 39 Shannon McGee Sr. OF 5-6 L/R Chardon, Ohio/Berkshire 51 Katie Polaski Jr. 2B/OF 5-6 L/R Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North Head Coach: Alicia Abbott – 1st Season (North Carolina State, 2011) Assistant Coach: Beth Golitko - 1st Season (Western Illinois, 2011) Assistant Coach: Jackie Manrique – 2nd Season (St. Cloud State, 2014) STARTERS RETURNING Name POS HT YR AVG. HR RBI Allyson Ivey C/1B 5-5 Jr. .460 9 54 Shannon McGee OF 5-6 Sr. .397 3 30 Jessica Shields OF 5-6 Sr. .376 0 7 Madison Ebeling SS/2B 5-4 So. .264 3 18 Nova Sinskul SS 5-8 So. .297 3 21 Abbey Jacobsen C 5-8 So. .242 0 11 Katie Polaski 2B/OF 5-6 Jr. .185 0 14 NEWCOMERS Name POS HT YR Hometown Sophie Van Acker UTL 5-6 Jr. Milford, Mich. Amelia Thomas INF/UTL 5-8 Fr. Andalusia, Ill. Abby Brown OF 5-4 Fr. Nobelsville, Ind. Dani Brown P 5-7 Fr. Aurora, Ill. Hailey Crabtree INF/UTL 5-8 Fr. Pleasant Prairie, Wis. Bri Clifton P 6-0 So. O’Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic 3 2020 LOYOLA SOFTBALL MEDIA GUIDE 2020 SCHEDULE 2020 MVC Preseason Poll Team (First Place Votes) Total Points 1. Drake (4) ................................................89 2. UNI (4) ...................................................87 3. Southern Illinois (1) ................................82 4. Missouri State ........................................69 5. Illinois State (1) ......................................60 6. Bradley ..................................................55 7. Indiana State ..........................................31 8. Evansville ...............................................27 9. Loyola ....................................................26 10. Valparaiso ............................................24 Preseason All-MVC Team Pos Player School 1B Allyson Ivey Loyola 2B Maddy Vermejan SIU 3B Adara Opiola UNI SS Sammey Bunch UNI C Katelyn Massa SIU UT/P Jaclyn Spencer UNI DP/UT-NP Eryn Gould Evansville OF Jenny Jansen SIU OF Shannon McGee Loyola P Steffany Dickerson Missouri State P Morgan Day Illinois State 2020 LOYOLA SOFTBALL MEDIA GUIDE 4 alicia abbott head coach • first season • nc state (2011) Alicia Abbott, a native of New Lenox, Ill., was named Loyola University Chicago’s head softball coach on August 5, 2019. Abbott has spent the last five seasons as the associate head coach at Northern Illinois Univer- sity, where she helped the Huskies claim the Mid-American Conference West Division championship in 2016. “We are excited to add someone of Alicia’s pedigree to our staff,” Loyola Director of Athletics Steve Watson said. “As a Chicagoland native and former associate head coach at Northern Illinois, she has a proven track record when it comes to recruiting in the Chicago area and the Midwest. She has demonstrated a high standard for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Great things are in store for our softball program under Alicia’s leadership.” During her five-year tenure in DeKalb, Abbott helped Northern Illinois to 147 wins, including a 27-25 mark in 2019. Under Abbott’s tutelage, the Huskies set five single-season team records – stolen bases (103), home runs (59), runs score (306), RBI (283) and slugging percentage (.483). At NIU, she helped develop 19 All-MAC honorees, 44 Academic All-MAC selections and eight National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region players. In 2016, Emily Naegele collected All-America and CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition. Prior to her stint at NIU, Abbott spent the 2014 campaign as an assistant coach at SIU Edwardsville, where she played a key role as the Cougars posted 30 wins and captured the Ohio Valley Conference West Division title, an OVC Tournament crown and earn a berth in the NCAA tournament. Before returning to her native state of Illinois, Abbott served as the top assistant coach at Newberry College in South Carolina for two seasons, working with the infielders, while also filling the role of hitting coach. She got her start in coaching as a volunteer assistant coach at North Carolina State University in 2012. Abbott began her collegiate career at UIC and was the Horizon League Newcomer of the Year in 2008 after batting .307 and starting all 57 contests. Following her sophomore season, Abbott transferred to North Caro- lina State, hitting .283 in her two-year career with the Wolfpack. “I am humbled and ecstatic to be part of this chapter in Rambler Athletics at the helm of the softball pro- gram,” Abbott said. “I would like to thank both Steve Watson and Holly Strauss-O’Brien for the opportunity to take a group of young women, who have set high standards both on and off the field, to embrace the chance we have at making a mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. Loyola is an exceptional institution with a world-class staff and I am eager to lead and mentor our team and to help shape us into a program that is both competitive and provides our student-athletes with the best experience possible.” 5 2020 LOYOLA SOFTBALL MEDIA GUIDE beth golitko ast. coach • first season • western illinois (2011) Beth Golitko was named Loyola University Chicago’s assistant softball coach on August 26, 2019. Golitko has spent the last two seasons as the head coach at Western Illinois University, where she piloted Western Illinois to a 20-20 overall record in 2019, the team’s top win total since 2010. Under Golitko, the Leathernecks earned back-to-back third-place finishes in the Summit League highlighted by a 12-6 mark in 2019. During her time as head coach, she guided 10 student-athletes to All-Summit League accolades. Golitko’s team also excelled in the classroom, posting a 3.635 grade-point average that ranked as the highest for a single semester in program history. As an assistant coach from 2015-2017, Golitko helped guide the Leathernecks to 56 victories. She also worked as a graduate assistant for two seasons (2011-12 to 2012-13) and received her master’s degree from WIU before joining Cleveland State as an assistant coach for the 2014 season, where mentored a pair of First Team All-Horizon League selections. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Golitko had a successful four-year playing career with the Leather- necks, closing her time in Macomb, Ill. as a career .326 hitter with nine home runs and 81 RBIs. 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 Division I Softball 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, earn- ing a pair of selections to The Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence. “I am so excited to be joining the Rambler family,” Golitko said. “I want to thank Alicia for giving me this opportunity be a part of the softball program as well as the Athletic Director Steve Watson and the rest of the Athletic Administration. I’m thrilled to hit the ground running and start working with our players and staff to keep adding to the rich traditions that have been built.” 2020 LOYOLA SOFTBALL MEDIA GUIDE 6 jackie manrique ast. coach • second season • st. cloud state (2014) Jackie Manrique enters her second season as an assistant softball coach at Loyola University Chicago in 2020. The Chicago native works with the Ramblers’ pitching staff. A former collegiate pitcher herself, Manrique oversaw a Loyola pitch- ing staff that finished in the top half of the Missouri Valley Confer- ence in ERA, opponent batting average, hits allowed, runs allowed and walks allowed in 2019 - as well as the conference’s lowest amount of team home runs allowed. Off the field, pitcher Kiley Jones was named First Team MVC Scholar-Athlete, joining three other Ramblers to earn the prestigious scholar athlete recognition.