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Softball Heads To Denton, Texas For Sleep Inn Classic

Softball Drake Athletics

Softball Heads To Denton, Texas For Sleep Inn Classic

THIS WEEK IN DRAKE SOFTBALL
Drake softball team will travel to Denton, Texas, to participate in the Sleep Inn Classic hosted by North Texas. The Bulldogs enter the tournament with a 2-3 overall record after playing in the Metrodome Tournament last weekend. The Bulldogs will face Buffalo at 10 a.m. Friday, followed by a 12:30 p.m. game with host North Texas. Drake meets Sam Houston State at 10 a.m. Saturday and will meet Colorado State at 12:30 p.m later that day. The Bulldogs will play Arkansas for the second time in two weeks at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday to wrap up the tournament.

WHO HAS WHOSE NUMBER
Drake is 1-0 against Buffalo, with the teams' lone contest a 2-1 Bulldog victory at the 2001 Creighton Bluejay Invitational in Kansas City, Mo. The Bulldogs are 3-3 against Arkansas after evening the series with a 2-1 victory last Saturday. Drake is locked in a 2-2 tie with Sam Houston State and is behind 3-2 in the series with Colorado State. The Bulldogs are 1-0 against North Texas, with the series' lone contest a 5-3 Drake victory March 28, 1987.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
The Buffalo Bulls finished their first season under Jennifer Teague with a 25-27 record which tied a school record for most wins in a single season. The Bulls are led by sophomore pitcher Terese Diaz whose 14 wins puts rank on Buffalo's all-time wins list. Buffalo's game against Drake will be its first game of its 2010 campaign.
    The North Texas Mean Green is coming off a 26-28 record where it finished 5th in the Sun Belt Conference. The Mean Green are led by junior Mariza Martinez who was named to the 2009 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Central Region First Team last season.
    The Sam Houston State Bearkats started their season last weekend in the Marriott Cougar Softball Classic hosted by the University of Houston. Sam Houston State won its first game against Kansas 8-0 on Feb. 12, but then dropped games to Baylor, Ohio State, Kansas and Houston to round out the tournament. The Bearkats are led by junior shortstop Hailey Wiginton who enters the season as the Bearkats all-time leading hitter with a .370 batting average.
    The Arkansas Razorbacks went 2-3 at the Metrodome Classic last weekend and fell, 2-1, to Drake on Feb. 13.  Arkansas returns 15 letterwinners, including five starting position players and four pitchers, from a squad that finished 27-29 last year. The Razorbacks made it to the NCAA Tournament last season, but will be under the direction of first year coach Mike Larabee.
    The Colorado State Rams enter the Sleep Inn Classic with a 1-4 record with their lone win a 5-1 victory over Texas-San Antonio at the Hotel Encanto Invitational The Rams finished the 2009 season with a 26-25 record, including a 7-8 record in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams are led by Caitlan Stern and Kelli Eubanks, who were both selected to the 2009 All-MWC team.

UP AND DOWN
Bulldog pitchers Jenna DeLong and Brynne Dordel had an up and down weekend last week at the Metrodome Softball Classic. DeLong was brilliant against Arkansas, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out nine in a complete game effort, but allowed 12 runs (eight earned) on 11 hits in 12 innings of work against Iowa State and Iowa. Dordel tossed a two-hit shutout with seven strikeouts against Minnesota, but allowed three earned runs on nine hits against Iowa.

CLUTCH
Drake hit .308 with runners in scoring position last weekend and was two-for-three with four RBI in bases loaded situations. Junior Erin Bly and sophomore Erin Mollohan had two RBI each in bases loaded situations last week.

FREQUENT FLYERS
The Bulldogs will not play a home game until March 27 when they face Missouri Valley Conference foe Bradley in a doubleheader. Before then, Drake will have played 25 games and traveled 5,508 miles before playing in front of a home crowd at Buel Field.
    Besides playing in the Metrodome Tournament, Drake will travel to Texas to play in the Sleep Inn Classic; Arkansas to play in the Razorback Invitational; and to Florida where the squad will play in the USF Under Armour Tournament before returning to the Midwest to face Illinois State on the road.

REPEAT OFFENDERS
After beating Arkansas 2-1 on Feb. 13, the Bulldogs will face the Razorbacks against twice in the next three weeks. Drake will play Arkansas Sunday, Feb 21 at 11:30 in the Sleep Inn Classic and will again on Saturday, March 6 when Arkansas hosts the Razorback Invitational. The Bulldogs also will face Iowa State at the Razorback Invitational on Saturday March 6. The Bulldogs will face the Cyclones twice out of tournament play as they will travel to Ames on April 6 and host Iowa State on April 8th.

FAMILIAR FOES
Drake will meet six familiar non-conference opponents in 2010, having played Arkansas, Minnesota, Iowa State, Iowa, Eastern Illinois and Kansas in 2009. The Bulldogs earned victories over each of the above teams last season and went 6-2 overall. Drake's two losses were to Arkansas March 3 and Eastern Illinois March 17. Iowa was ranked No. 25 in the NCAA when the Bulldogs earned a 1-0 win in Iowa City on April 29 of last year.

BACK IN BLUE
Drake returns nine starters from a year ago, including five seniors and a pair of first team all-MVC honorees in junior pitcher Jenna DeLong and junior infielder Erin Bly. DeLong was a force in the circle for the Bulldogs, setting the single season record for strikeouts with 244 while going 19-12 with a solid 1.76 earned run average. The junior displayed excellent command of the strike zone with just 75 walks to register a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.25/1.
    Bly led the Bulldogs with a .317 average and 51 hits and was second on the team with six home runs. The junior drove in 25 runs and hit a team-best .407 (22-54) with runners in scoring position.
    Also returning is senior Elena Leon, who led the team in nearly every statistical category en route to earning a second team all-MVC nod. Leon belted 12 home runs in 2009, two short of the Drake single-season record of 14 set by Jaci Faidley in 2008. The senior drove in a team-best 30 runs and scored an MVC-leading and team record 45 runs in 2009. She also ranked in the conference's top five in several different categories (see chart).
    Joining DeLong in the circle is junior Brynne Dordel, who went 10-9 with a 3.38 ERA and 140 strikeouts last season. Dordel won 19 games and struck out 222 batters during the 2008 season and already ranks ninth on Drake's all time career wins list with 29. Dordel and DeLong comprise arguably the best pitching staff in the Missouri Valley Conference.   
    Seniors Bridget Shields, Carrie Hatfield, Kelsey Kahler and Mandy Osborn will all see significant time in the starting lineup as well. Shields started all 53 games last season and was second on the team with nine doubles. Hatfield started in 41 games and drove in 11 runs while Kahler tallied 19 hits and nine stolen bases for Drake. Osborn will see time in the circle after totaling 23 innings of work last season.

DRAKE SOFTBALL PICKED FOURTH IN MVC PRESEASON POLL
Drake was picked fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches' poll released Jan. 27. The Bulldogs garnered 71 points and one first place selection in a vote by the league's head softball coaches.
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Players Mentioned

Erin Bly

#30 Erin Bly

IF
5' 6"
Sophomore
Jenna DeLong

#33 Jenna DeLong

P/OF
5' 10"
Junior
Brynne Dordel

#23 Brynne Dordel

P
5' 7"
Junior
Carrie Hatfield

#20 Carrie Hatfield

IF
5' 4"
Senior
Kelsey Kahler

#8 Kelsey Kahler

OF
5' 3"
Senior
Elena Leon

#21 Elena Leon

IF
5' 8"
Senior
Erin Mollohan

#55 Erin Mollohan

C
5' 7"
Junior
Mandy Osborn

#3 Mandy Osborn

P
5' 7"
Senior
Bridget Shields

#4 Bridget Shields

OF
5' 7"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Erin Bly

#30 Erin Bly

5' 6"
Sophomore
IF
Jenna DeLong

#33 Jenna DeLong

5' 10"
Junior
P/OF
Brynne Dordel

#23 Brynne Dordel

5' 7"
Junior
P
Carrie Hatfield

#20 Carrie Hatfield

5' 4"
Senior
IF
Kelsey Kahler

#8 Kelsey Kahler

5' 3"
Senior
OF
Elena Leon

#21 Elena Leon

5' 8"
Senior
IF
Erin Mollohan

#55 Erin Mollohan

5' 7"
Junior
C
Mandy Osborn

#3 Mandy Osborn

5' 7"
Senior
P
Bridget Shields

#4 Bridget Shields

5' 7"
Senior
OF