TAMPA, Fla. – The Drake University softball team swept a pair of games on the first day of the 2018 USF Tournament in Tampa, Fla. Drake (8-3) blitzed Bryant (2-4), 13-0, in five innings and then defeated the tournament host, South Florida (6-8), 4-1.
 
Drake was led by senior Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) who went 3-for-7 with two home runs, three runs scored and five runs batted in on the day.
 
Redshirt junior pitcher Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) helped lead the Bulldogs to the victory over South Florida. Newman (5-0) gave up one earned run on two hits with seven strikeouts in just five innings pitched. The run allowed by Newman is the first she has allowed this season in 25.0 innings of work. Senior pitcher Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) picked up her third save of the season pitching the final two innings. She allowed just one hit with two strikeouts.
 
Junior Gabbie Jonas (Omaha, Neb.) got the Bulldogs going in the second inning with a leadoff single. Freshman Macy Johnson (Winterset, Iowa) reached on a USF error before Libby Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) loaded the bases with a bunt single. A sacrifice fly by sophomore Mandi Roemmich (West Des Moines, Iowa) brought in the first run before Alexander's second homer of the day gave Drake a 4-0 lead.
 
South Florida put themselves on the board with a home run by Lindsey Devitt in the fifth inning.
 
The Drake Bulldogs busted out for 13 runs on 13 hits against the Bryant Bulldogs and received a dominant pitching performance by freshman Nicole Timmons (Davenport, Iowa). Timmons (2-2) pitched five innings and allowed just one hit with 10 strikeouts. She worked around a season-high six walks.
 
Drake wasted little time scoring its first run in the first inning as sophomore Sarah Maddox (Henderson, Nev.) hit a single to leftfield to score junior Taryn Pena (Columbia, Ill.). The Bulldogs built up their lead to 6-0 in the next inning with five runs on three hits. Maddox drove in her second run and the final score of the frame with a sacrifice fly that scored Pena again.
 
Drake blew the game open with seven runs in the fourth inning. Smith blasted a leadoff home run and Alexander connected on a two-run home run for the final runs. In between the home runs, Ryan drove in a pair of runs with a single.
 
Maddox and Smith led the Bulldogs with three hits each. Timmons, who allowed her only hit in the fourth inning, worked around a one-out walk in the fifth inning to strike out the side and end the game early.
 
Drake resumes action Saturday morning against Fordham (0-7) at 8:15 a.m. before playing two additional TBD games. The opponents and times will be determined by a reseeding based on the results of the earlier tournament games. One game will take place Saturday afternoon with the finale for Drake scheduled for Sunday morning. Bryant, Drake, Fordham and South Florida are the four teams in the three-day tournament.