TUCSON, Ariz. - The Drake Bulldogs softball team finished the 2013 Hillenbrand Invitational with a 7-2 win over the Southern Utah Thunderbirds Sunday morning.

Southern Utah (2-8) held a 2-1 advantage after two innings of play after an RBI double in the first inning and a fielding error that allowed a run to score in the second inning.

Drake (6-4) tied the game in the third inning with an RBI double by Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.) that pushed Macie Silliman (Winterset, Iowa) across the plate.

The Bulldogs tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning this time with an RBI single by Nybo that scored Amy Pierce (Olathe, Kan.) and Silliman. Pierce and Silliman each walked to lead off the inning and Silliman came around to score on the throw in on Nybo's single.

Drake put the game away in the next frame with three runs on three hits and one error by the Thunderbirds. Lindsey Vande Wall (Prairie City, Iowa) scored on a throwing error by the pitcher, Pierce ripped an RBI double and Nybo had another RBI single.

Nybo led the offensive attack going 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs batted in while Pierce finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two stolen bases and two walks. Vande Wall finished 2-for-3.

Sophomore Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) relieved junior Jordan Gronewold (Carlisle, Iowa) on the mound in the second inning and finished the game to improve her record to 2-3 this year. Schmidt tossed six innings allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out five. Gronewold pitched one inning and both runs were charged to her but just one run was earned.

The Bulldogs travel to the Ole Miss tournament next week with five games scheduled. Drake will open the tournament against Middle Tennessee on Friday morning at 11:15 a.m. and face McNeese State in the afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

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