The Drake University softball team is set to open Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Evansville. Drake opens play Saturday with a 12 and 2 p.m. doubleheader before an 11 a.m. matchup on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on
The Valley on ESPN3.
Drake (16-9) sits at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference standings following a 3-2 weekend at the Hall of Fame Classic in Oklahoma City. The Bulldogs picked up their second win over a Power 5 team this season with a 1-0 victory Purdue. They also beat UConn and rallied in the final inning for a 4-2 win over Pacific.
Redshirt junior
Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) struck out 14 Boilermakers with a complete game, one-hitter. Newman's only loss on the weekend came against then No. 24/RV Oklahoma State where she went five innings and allowed two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. Newman is 7-2 this season with 76 strikeouts in 47.0 innings pitched and a league-best 1.04 earned run average.
Freshman
Macy Johnson (Winterset, Iowa) batted .333 (6-for-12) in Oklahoma City with one double, one home run, two stolen bases, two runs scored and six runs batted in. Johnson also compiled a .429 on-base percentage and .556 slugging percentage. In Drake's 4-1 victory over UConn, she went 2-for-3 with her second career home run. Johnson is batting a team-best .386 while also leading the team in walks with 10 and tied for the team lead in home runs with two. She also ranks second in stolen bases with seven and RBI with 13.
Evansville (7-15) is led by Morgan Florey who is second in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings and fourth in total strikeouts. Florey, who has a 4-7 record, has 128 strikeouts and a 2.01 ERA. The Purple Aces went 1-3 last weekend at the Racer Classic picking up their lone victory over Oakland.
Last season the Purple Aces swept Drake in a three-game home series, while Drake swept the series in 2016 and 2015.
Drake will remain on the road, March 24-25, for a three-game conference matchup at Indiana State.
