EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Drake University softball team started Missouri Valley Conference play with a sweep of the Evansville Purple Aces on Saturday. Drake (11-10, 2-0 MVC) won game number one over Evansville (11-11, 0-2 MVC) by a score of 4-2 and then took game two, 4-3.
 
In the first game, Drake starter Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs. Newman allowed just two runs on five hits while striking out six and walking just one.
 
The offense wasted little time helping Newman by scoring one run in the first inning on Taryn Pena's (Columbia, Ill.) single. Drake added three more runs in the fourth inning with the first coming from Gabbie Jonas' (Omaha, Neb.) RBI bunt single that plated Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.). Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) drove in the next two runs with her RBI double.
 
Pena led the Bulldogs with two hits while six others had at least one in the game. Alexander had two runs batted in and leads the team with 17 RBI on the season.
 
In the second game, Evansville struck first with one run in the opening inning. However, the Purple Aces' lead didn't last long as the Bulldogs scored fours in the third inning to go ahead 4-1. Drake sent eight batters to the plate and had four hits while capitalizing on three Evansville errors.
 
Evansville answered with two runs on three hits in its at-bat off Drake starter Mariah McKinnon (Oxford, Iowa) in the third. However, further damage was avoided as Newman came in on relief and quickly struck out the Purple Aces hitter to get out of the inning and keep the score at 4-3 in favor of Drake.
 
Newman limited Evansville to just one hit in 4 1/3 innings of relief work. She recorded six strikeouts to earn her second win of the day and improve to 9-5 on the season.
 
Freshman Kennedy Frank (Chesterfield, Mo.) went 3-for-4 at the plate with one run batted in and one run scored.
 
Drake and Evansville close the weekend with one game on Sunday at noon.