EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Drake Bulldogs softball team swept the Evansville
Purple Aces Tuesday night. The Bulldogs won 2-1 in game one and 3-2 in game two
to complete their second two-game conference sweep in four days.
In the bottom of the first inning of
game one, junior Nicole Randel
(Alpine, Calif.) hit an RBI single that scored Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.) to put Drake (18-10, 4-0 MVC) up
1-0. Evansville's (7-15, 1-5) Kacey Rogers evened the score at 1-1 in the top
of the fifth inning after she reached on a leadoff error and came around on an
RBI single by Victoria Dellorto.
Nybo blasted her team-leading sixth
home run of the year in the bottom of the sixth inning for the decisive run.
Nybo finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored, a home run and one RBI, while
Randel went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Junior Jordan Gronewold (Carlisle, Iowa) started and pitched four innings
allowing four hits and zero runs, while striking out three. Sophomore Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.)
pitched in relief going three innings allowing two hits and one unearned run,
while punching out five. She earned the win to improve to 8-5.
Nybo put Drake on the scoreboard in
the bottom of the first inning of game two. She drove a single up the middle to
plate Macie Silliman (Winterset,
Iowa) and two batters later sophomore Laura
Brewer (Waukee, Iowa) drove Nybo home with a single through the right side
to go in front, 2-0.
Kayla Fortner sliced Drake's lead to
2-1 in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run, but Gronewold put
Drake up 3-2 in the bottom of the frame with an RBI double that scored freshman
Mariah Mckinnon (Oxford, Iowa).
Evansville scored in the top of the
sixth inning on an RBI single by Kendall Kautz, but Rogers pinch ran for Kautz and was
caught stealing to get Drake out of the inning. Schmidt worked around a one-out
double in the seventh inning to earn her nation-leading fifth save. Gronewold
pitched five innings allowing just Fortner's home run to pick up the win and
improve to 10-5 on the year.
Silliman, Gronewold and junior Cortney Wood (Alburnett, Iowa) had two
hits each as Drake finished with 11 hits. The series with the Purple Aces was
moved to Evansville, Ind. because of field conditions of Ron Buel Field in Des
Moines, Iowa.
The Bulldogs will have a week off
until their next contest. The Iowa State Cyclones visit for Drake's home opener
next Tuesday, March 26. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
