EVANSVILLE, IND. -- Senior Marilyn Buss (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) slugged a grand-slam home run on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the seventh inning to rally Drake to a 5-3 victory past Evansville in the Missouri Valley Conference softball opener for both teams Saturday.

Freshman Brynne Dordel (Chanhassne, Minn.) earned the victory, pitching six innings before giving way to Mandy Osborn (Blair, Neb.) who earned a save throwing the seventh inning.

Dordel struck out five batters en route to earning her seventh win of the campaign.

Buss led the way for the Bulldogs at the plate, going 1-3 with four RBI.

Drake, which has won six of its last eight games, improved its record to 10-10. Evansville fell to 10-7.

The Bulldogs will play Evansville in a doubleheader Sunday, starting at 12 p.m.