NORMAL, Ill. - Liz Buck (Overland Park, Kan.) drove in Jaimie Duffek (Brookfield, Ill.) with an RBI single in the 11th inning to give the Drake Bulldogs a 5-4 win over the Illinois State Redbirds at Marian Kneer Stadium on Sunday afternoon .
Duffek had led off the inning with a single and stole second with one-out, before Buck drove her home with her second RBI single of the game.
Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) struck out two of the three Redbird hitters in the 11th on her way to earning the victory. The freshman pitched four and one thirds innings of relief and struck out seven to improve to 5-6 on the season.
The Drake (18-21, 9-6 MVC) win avoided a sweep by Illinois State (24-19, 9-6 MVC), who took both games yesterday.
Amy Pierce (Olathe, Kan.) singled home pinch-runner Sarah Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) for the Bulldogs first run today and Pierce came around to score on an error by Illinois State shortstop Lindsey Greene as Drake took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third. Ryan ran for Nicole Randel (Alpine, Calif.), who led off with a double.
Lizzie Andrews cut the Redbirds deficit to 2-1 in the fourth with a solo home run off of Drake starting pitcher Jordan Gronewold (Carlisle, Iowa).
Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.) had an RBI base hit in the sixth inning that scored Sam West (Kearney, Mo.) to extend Drake's lead to 3-1.
Jhavon Hamilton tied the game in the seventh inning for Illinois State with a two-out, two-run home run off of Gronewold to force extra innings.
In the eighth inning both teams were retired in order, which forced a ninth inning. Drake played small ball in the inning to manufacture a run as Nybo led off with a single. Lindsey Vande Wall (Prairie City, Iowa) pinch ran for Nybo and she advanced to second on a sacrifice by Gronewold, who moved to the designated player position in the seventh after Schmidt came in to pitch. Duffek followed with a single to advance Vande Wall to third base. Buck followed with a base hit, her first of the game to plate Vande Wall and give Drake a 4-3 advantage.
Illinois State tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the tenth with a Lizzie Andrews RBI single.
In the tenth, Pierce led off with a bunt single but she was stranded at second base as the Bulldogs failed to produce anymore offense. In the bottom of the frame, Schmidt retired the Redbirds in order to force an 11th inning of play.
Drake will return to Ron Buel Field Wednesday, April 18 to host the Creighton Bluejays for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
