TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State softball defeated Loyola Chicago 10-0 in five innings on Sunday afternoon at Price Field to give the Sycamores the series victory to close out the regular season.

The Sycamores honored Grace Hunger, Lexie Siwek, Bella Peterson and Amanda Guercio prior to the game for Senior Day.

With the win, the Sycamores (24-26, 11-15) will be the #7 seed at the MVC Tournament and Loyola (16-29, 10-16) will be the #8 seed.

The Action
Indiana State starter Lexi Benko kept the Loyola bats quiet from the start, setting down the Ramblers 1-2-3 in the first inning.

The Sycamore offense got going in the second as Grace Hunger put three runs on the board with her first home run of the season over the wall in left which scored Danielle Henning and Amanda Guercio. Olivia Patton drove in Abi Chipps to increase the ISU lead to 4-0 which chased Loyola starter Peyton Pepkowski from the game. Bella Peterson doubled to right center to score Patton from first which made it a 5-0 game after two innings.

Peterson's double was her 20th of the season which breaks the Indiana State single-season record for doubles which she set last season with 19.
In the bottom of the third, Abi Chipps singled to center which scored Isabella Henning and Danielle Henning who both reached with singles. Chipps' base hit made it a 7-0 Indiana State lead.

After another 1-2-3 inning from Benko, Indiana State came to the plate in the fourth and added three more runs to go up 10-0. Bella Peterson singled and later scored on a throwing error to start the scoring and then Lexie Siwek added two more runs with a double down the right field line.

Benko gave up a one-out single in the fifth but that would be all for Loyola as the Sycamores closed out the 10-0 victory, giving Benko her 13th victory of the season. She allowed just two hits over a complete game five-inning effort.

Indiana State finished with nine hits, led by Peterson, Chipps and Isabella Henning who each had two hits apiece. Siwek, Hunger and Danielle Henning each had one.
Hunger's home run in the second gave Indiana State 36 on the season which ties a season-high as a team which was set in 2021.

Around the Horn
-Prior to postseason play, here's where Bella Peterson sits in career rankings at ISU: First in games played/started (220/217), doubles (73), RBIs (151), total bases (394), sacrifice flies (8), at-bats (678) and walks (92). She ranks second in hits (242) and runs (137). Her 21 career home runs rank fourth.

-Amanda Guercio sits in second for career home runs with 25 and games played with 215.

-Lexi Benko's 13 wins are tied for seventh most in a season and are the most by an ISU pitcher since Kenzie Ihle in 2017 (17).

-The Sycamores currently have four hitters batting over .300 with Bella Peterson (.390), Isabella Henning (.362), Lexie Siwek (.319) and Annie Tokarek (.301) leading the offense heading into the MVC Tournament.

Up Next
Indiana State will head to Springfield, Missouri for the MVC Tournament next week and begin play on Wednesday, May 11 with a matchup against #10 seed Valparaiso.

For the latest information on Sycamore Softball, be sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.