DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University softball team swept the Missouri Valley Conference leading Creighton Bluejays in a Tuesday evening doubleheader at Ron Buel Field.
The Bulldogs won the first game, 5-4, and the second game, 9-1, improving their record to 28-19 and 14-7 in conference play, while Creighton falls to 27-16 and 13-6 in conference. The Bulldogs are now in second place just a few percentage points behind the Bluejays in conference winning percentage.
Drake concludes conference play with three home games against Northern Iowa this weekend, while Creighton hosts Wichita State for three. Illinois State (28-19, 13-7 MVC) and UNI (23-24, 13-8 MVC) sit in third and fourth place, respectively.
Freshman Mariah Mckinnon (Oxford, Iowa) earned her first career start in the first game of the doubleheader, but found trouble early, allowing all five batters she faced to reach base safely. McKinnon was relieved by sophomore Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.). McKinnon allowed two hits, two runs and walked a batter.
Schmidt pitched well allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits, while striking out five and working around four walks. She earned the win improving her record to 11-10. Junior Jordan Gronewold (Carlisle, Iowa) picked up her second save of the season, pitching 1 2/3 innings and fanning four Bluejays.
Junior Nicole Randel (Alpine, Calif.) continued her strong hitting going 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI. Junior Cortney Wood (Alburnett, Iowa) hit a two-run home run for her only hit of the game, while junior Amy Pierce (Olathe, Kan.) was 3-for-3 with a stolen base.
Designated as the visiting team, Drake scored first in the game, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Randel scored senior Macie Silliman (Winterset, Iowa) from second base on a two-out single to left field. Creighton responded in the bottom of the frame, scoring two runs off of Mckinnon. Schmidt quickly worked out of a jam by striking out two straight with runners on the corner to prevent any further damage.
Drake regained the lead in the top of the third, 3-2, with Wood's third home run of the season that scored Gronewold. A pair of free passes in the bottom of the frame helped load the bases for the Bluejays, but they only got one run to tie the game at 3-3.
Randel hit her seventh home run of the season in the fifth inning, sneaking a high fly ball over the right field fence to put the Bulldogs back ahead, 5-3. Schmidt battled control issues in the bottom of the inning, issuing walks to the first three Creighton batters to load the bases, but she retired the next three batters to make it out of the inning unscathed.
In the sixth inning, Creighton scored a run after Ellen Homan hit a triple and scored on the next play on a throwing error by Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.), to cut the deficit to 5-4.
The Bluejays once again threatened in the bottom of the seventh inning, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs, but Gronewold struck out three of the next four batters to win the first game.
Gronewold returned to the circle to start the second game and pitched all five innings striking out two batters, while allowing one run on four hits. She took the win to improve to 17-8 on the season.
Nybo made her mark in the second game after a quiet first game, batting 2-for-3 with a deep home run and two RBI. Gronewold also got it done at the plate collecting two hits, including a three-run home run. Pierce, Silliman and Randel added one RBI each.
After not registering a hit in the opener, Nybo made her presence known in her first at-bat of the night cap, blasting a home run over the left-center field fence to give Drake a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With her home run tonight, Nybo moves to sixth all-time in the Drake record books, tied with Erin Mollohan, with 19 career home runs. She also is seventh all-time in career runs batted in with 81.
The Bulldogs added two runs in the bottom of the second frame, with Wood and senior Sam West (Kearney, Mo.) scoring.
In the fourth inning, Drake poured on six runs, extending its lead to 9-1. Vande Wall led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by West. Pierce then singled to center field to score Vande Wall. Later in the inning, Pierce scored from third base on a sacrifice fly by Randel, and Gronewold followed with a three-run blast.
The Bulldogs return to action tomorrow traveling to Nebraska Omaha for a non-conference doubleheader. Game times are scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m.
