DES MOINES, IOWA - The Drake University softball team swept a Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader against Missouri State, Saturday, winning the opener, 3-1, and taking the second game, 8-0, in five innings.

The Bulldogs won both games behind timely hitting and dominant pitching from junior aces Brynne Dordel (Chanhassen, Minn.) and Jenna DeLong (Dalton Gardens, Idaho).

Dordel opened game one with six shutout innings before allowing a pinch-hit home run to Missouri State's Stevie Pierce. The junior had allowed just three hits prior to the seventh and finished the game to earn her 14th win of the season.

DeLong topped her teammate with a five-inning, one hit effort in game two. The junior faced the minimum in the second, third and fifth innings and struck out eight in the complete-game shutout victory. The win put DeLong at 14-6 on the season.

Offensively, freshman Macie Silliman (Winterset, Iowa) extended her season-best five-game hitting streak with a single in game one and her first-career home run in game two. Silliman is batting .533 (8-14) with four RBI, four runs scored and five stolen bases and has raised her season batting average from .241 to .301 over the last five games.

Joining Silliman with home runs was DeLong, who slammed her first of the season in the third inning of game two. Freshman Lindsey Vande Wall (Prairie City, Iowa) hit her ninth homer of the season in game one, tying her with senior Elena Leon (West Des Moines, Iowa) for the team lead.

Junior Erin Mollohan (Tinley Park, Ill.) slapped two doubles to up her season total to a team-best 15.

Drake improved to 28-11 overall, 9-4 in the MVC. The Bulldogs and Missouri State will play game three Sunday at noon.