A lot has changed for Loyola softball since the NIU softball team beat the Ramblers in an exhibition game last fall.

The Huskies will travel to Loyola for a doubleheader at 3 p.m. today and get their first look at Loyola since the hire of its new coach Yvette Healy.

“I think that they are going through some new coach changes,” NIU coach Donna Martin said. “I expect them to be a tough, hustle team and much improved since this fall.”

The Huskies (13-9) have won three of four games and Martin said they keep finding new ways to win games.

“We’ve proven we can score runs in many ways and we don’t need a lot of hits to win games,” Martin said. “We’ve won with hitting, pitching and defense and had a different person come up big for us.”

For the second time in four weeks, the Huskies swept the MAC West Player of the Week awards. Ellen Stoddard and Lindsey LaChiana earned player and pitcher of the week, respectively.

LaChiana is likely to pitch her third straight game for the Huskies. She has allowed only three earned runs in her last 19.2 innings of work.

Loyola (7-11) averages 2.8 runs per game and is hitting .263 as a team with five home runs.

Pitcher Kristen Cefalu leads the Ramblers in wins and has five homers and a .433 batting average.