NORMAL, Ill. – Freshman Mandi Roemmich (West Des Moines, Iowa) of the Drake University softball team has been selected to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Softball Second Team while senior Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) was picked to the MVC All-Defensive Team, it was announced Wednesday, May 10 evening at the 2017 MVC Softball awards banquet.
 
Roemmich played in 48 games, including starting the final 37 games of the regular season at shortstop, in her first season. The local product from West Des Moines Valley set the table for Drake's offense in the leadoff spot with a team-leading .388 batting average. Roemmich raised her play in MVC action with a .432 batting average, which ranks second in the league. Roemmich has a team-leading 11 doubles, 52 hits and a .481 on-base percentage and is tied for the team-lead in runs scored with 26. In the field, she tallied a .967 fielding percentage along with 77 putouts, 99 assists and committed just six errors.
 
Sowa is the Bulldogs' defensive anchor in the outfield with seven assists and 76 putouts. At the plate, she is hitting .296 with four home runs, nine doubles, 23 runs batted in and has drawn a team-leading 27 walks. The MVC All-Defensive team is completed by the league coaches who each nominate one player to the squad.
 
No. 6 Drake will play No. 7 Missouri State on Thursday in the opening round of the MVC Tournament in Normal. First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. and the game will be shown on The Valley on ESPN3.