THIS WEEK IN DRAKE SOFTBALL

Drake (16-16, 8-1 MVC) returns to MVC play when they travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa to face conference-leading Northern Iowa (25-9, 9-0 MVC) on Friday, April 6. Due to forecasted rain on Saturday the teams are now going to play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday, a single game is scheduled for noon. The series will be a showdown between the number one and two teams in the MVC. The Bulldogs won all three games against the Panthers in 2011.

SCOUTING THE NORTHERN IOWA PANTHERS

The Panthers are coached by Ryan Jacobs, who is in his fourth season as head coach. Jacobs has a 107-83 overall record at UNI. Mackenzie Daigh is the top hitter at .403 and she is tied with Whitney Plein in RBI with 23 to lead the Panthers and Plein sports a .337 batting average. Laura Turner is hitting .378 with two home runs and 22 RBI. Gina Brown rounds out UNI's .300 hitters as she is at .300 with a team-leading six home runs. UNI is third in hitting (.297), home runs (24) and RBI (173) in the Missouri Valley. The Panthers were picked second in the MVC preseason poll by the coaches.

LAST TIME OUT

The Bulldogs defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, 1-0, on Wednesday night. Jordan Gronewold (Carlisle, Iowa) scored the deciding run in the fifth inning as she raced home from third base on a stolen base attempt by Nicole Randel (Alpine, Calif.), who reached on a pinch- hit single. Gronewold finished 1-for-3 at the plate and picked up the win to improve to 12-10 on the season and.

LOOKING AHEAD

Drake will host Iowa State on Tuesday, April 10 at Ron Buel Field. The two teams met in Ames on March 28 and the Cyclones squeaked by the Bulldogs, 1-0.

STAYING IN THE STATE

The opening game in the Bradley series was the first of 12 games for the Bulldogs that will be played in the state of Iowa. Drake will not travel outside of the state until they go to Normal, Ill. to face the Illinois State Redbirds on Saturday, April 14 (DH) and Sunday, April 15.

STARTING FAST

Once again Drake is off to a great start in MVC play with sweeps over Indiana State and Bradley and taking two games from Missouri State. Last season the Bulldogs ripped off nine straight wins to begin conference play. Drake won 16 of their first 17 games on the way to a 19-6 overall regular season record and a second place finish.

SO CLOSE

Drake has a 5-7 record in games decided by one run this season after the win over the Hawkeyes last night.

GO LOW

Drake sports a 2.32 team ERA, which is second to UNI at 1.99. Jamie Fisher is the top pitcher for UNI at 11-1 and she has a conference-leading 1.66 ERA. Gronewold lowered her ERA to 2.21 after the Iowa game, which is sixth in the valley.

TOUGH OUT

Drake is the toughest team to strikeout this season in the MVC. The Bulldogs average a conference low 3.97 punchouts per game and they have just 127 on the season and trail only Southern Illinois for the fewest in the conference.

GLOVE WORK

Drake is tied with Missouri State for the top fielding percentage (.969) in the MVC and they are second in errors (29) behind MSU (27).

BRING THEM HOME

The Bulldogs have a .389 average (7-of-18) with the bases loaded this season, which is good for third in the valley.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

The Bulldogs are running the bases this season with 70 stolen bases and have had just 13 baserunners caught stealing. The Bulldogs lead the MVC in stolen bases and have 21 more than number two, UNI. Lindsay Vande Wall (Prairie City, Iowa) and Macie Silliman (Winterest, Iowa) lead the MVC with 17 stolen bases. Amy Pierce (Olathe, Kan.) has 14 swipes, which is fifth in the league. Pierce leads the MVC in triples with 3.

SIT EM DOWN

The Drake Bulldog pitchers have 197 strikeouts this season, which is one ahead of Northern Iowa for the conference lead. Gronewold leads the conference with 122 strikeouts and Fisher of UNI if fifth with 108.

CONFERENCE PLAY

Torey Craddock (Tucson, Ariz.) and Pierce are hammering MVC pitching this season. Craddock, a senior infielder is hitting .357 with ten hits including three home runs, six RBI and five runs scored in the first nine conference games. Craddock is hitting .289 with five home runs, 16 RBI, 15 runs scored and 26 hits on the season. Pierce, a sophomore infielder is hitting .367 with 11 hits, five runs scored, three doubles, two triples, four stolen bases and four RBI in the first nine games of MVC play. Pierce is hitting .292 with 31 hits, 18 runs scored, six doubles, three triples and 16 RBI on the season.

FIRST YEAR

Freshman Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.) is having a nice start to her first season as a Bulldog. The Minnesota native is hitting .311 with five home runs and 23 RBI along with a .556 slugging percentage.

SETTLING

Gronewold has settled in her role as the number one pitcher for the Bulldogs. She is 12-10 with a 2.21 ERA and she leads the MVC in strikeouts (125), innings pitched (142.2), starts (27) and appearances (29). Her 12 wins are second in the Valley. Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) has settled into the number two spot in the rotation. The freshman is 3-1 with three saves and has a 0.33 ERA in 21 innings pitched in MVC play and is 4-6 overall with six saves and a 2.53 ERA and 72 strikeouts. Schmidt leads the Valley in saves and is ranked in the top five nationally.

THREE STRIKES

Gronewold and Schmidt recorded two of the first double digit strikeout games in the MVC this season. Gronewold had 10 strikeouts against Western Illinois and Schmidt had 10 strikeouts against Green Bay.