DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University softball team split its doubleheader Saturday with Indiana State, falling 4-3 in the first game and prevailing 9-1 in the second contest, at Ron Buel Field.
Junior Jordan Gronewold (Carlisle, Iowa) started the first game for Drake (24-14, 6-3), pitching four innings and striking out two, while allowing two runs on four hits. Sophomore Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) relieved Gronewold and took the loss to drop to 9-7 overall. She pitched three innings, allowing two runs on two hits, striking out two and walking three.
Sophomore Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.) went 2-for-4 at the plate to pace the Bulldogs. Junior Amy Pierce (Olathe, Kan.) was 1-for-4 with two RBI on her team-leading seventh home run of the season.
Indiana State (13-22, 3-8) got on the board first, as Morgan Allee's triple to center field on a ball that got caught in the wind scored Shelby Wilson from second base, giving the Sycamores a 1-0 lead in the first inning. ISU added another run in the third inning, on a single, expanding its lead to 2-0.
Drake had offensive opportunities throughout the game and finally broke through in the fifth inning to score a run. Pierce blasted a two-run home run to tie the game at 2-2.
The tie didn't last long, as the first batter of the sixth inning, Megan Stone, hit a home run to right field to give Indiana State a 3-2 lead. The Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the frame, with freshman Seyerra Dubois (Carlisle, Iowa) scoring from third on junior Cortney Wood's (Alburnett, Iowa) well placed grounder to the first base side, giving Indiana State no opportunity for a play at home.
Indiana State once again responded to Drake's equalizing run in the following inning, taking a 4-3 lead on Alex Lucas' two-out single on a blooper to left field. Schmidt hit a leadoff single in the bottom frame, but was stranded at third base as Indiana State held on for the victory in game one.
Drake scored first in the second contest; with Pierce scoring on Nybo's single to right field in the third inning to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the day, 1-0. Nybo's hit extended her hitting streak to 13 games. The Bulldogs added a pair of runs in the fourth inning to push their lead to 3-0 over the Sycamores.
ISU nabbed a run in the top of the fifth inning with two outs. Ashley Dickerson scored from second base after Alexa Cavin narrowly beat the throw to first base on a slow roller to Pierce at shortstop making the score 3-1.
Nybo extended the lead to 4-1 in the sixth inning with a bomb over the center field fence, keeping pace with Pierce for the most home runs on the team, with seven. The home run sparked an inning in which the Bulldogs batted around the order and enforced the run rule winning, 9-1.
Gronewold started the second game and pitched all six innings, while striking out two and allowing four hits and one run. She earned the win to improve to 11-7 on the year.
After struggling in the first game, Drake got its bats going in the second game, tallying 11 hits and nine runs. Nybo led the offensive charge with three hits including a home run along with four RBI. Wood had two hits and three RBI, Pierce had two hits and a RBI, and sophomore Laura Brewer (Waukee, Iowa) had two hits.
The teams conclude the series tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for noon.
