Softball 3/16/2010 10:00:00 PM Drake Athletics

Bulldogs Sweep Doubleheader Against South Florida

TAMPA, FLA. – Five straight walks in game one and a pair of home runs by Bulldog senior Elena Leon in game two propelled the Drake University softball team to a doubleheader sweep over South Florida in Tampa, Fla. Tuesday. Drake topped the Bulls 4-3 in game one and won 4-0 in game two.

Patient at-bats gave Drake the 4-3 win in the opener after the Bulldogs drew five straight walks in a four-run third inning. Lindsey Vande Wall (Prairie City, Iowa), Erin Bly (Frankfort, Ill.), Torey Craddock (Tucson, Ariz.), Erin Mollohan (Tinley Park, Ill.) and Bridget Shields (Iowa City, Iowa) worked consecutive free passes to plate the first two Drake runs of the third and give Drake an early advantage.

Seniors Carrie Hatfield (Des Moines, Iowa) and Kelsey Kahler (North Liberty, Iowa) hit back-to-back RBI singles to give the Bulldogs two more in the frame and hand pitcher Jenna DeLong (Dalton Gardens, Idaho) a four-run cushion with four innings to play.

DeLong didn't disappoint. The junior held the bulls scoreless through four before ceding a single run in the fifth and two in the seventh to grab a slim 4-3 victory. DeLong improved to 7-3 on the season with a complete game, eight-strikeout effort, in which she allowed three runs on nine hits.

Junior pitcher Brynne Dordel (Chanhassen, Minn.) one-upped her teammate in game two, throwing a two-hit shutout and striking out 10 to move to 7-3 on the year.

Senior Elena Leon (Des Moines, Iowa), who became Drake's all-time home run leader with her 26th career home run against Boston College three days ago, slammed two more home runs, both solo shots, to lead off the first and third innings. Shields added a run in the fourth with her second career home run while Hatfield scored on a South Florida error in the fifth.

Four runs was more than enough for Dordel, who rang up inning-ending strikeouts in five of her seven innings of work and forced a double-play to end the sixth. No USF batter advanced past first base under Dordel's watch.

The sweep improved Drake's record to 14-6 overall.

The Bulldogs meet Central Florida in Orlando, Fla. Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Central time.

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