STILLWATER, Okla. – The Drake University softball team is back in action on Friday, March 7, at the Mizuno Classic in Stillwater, Okla. hosted by Oklahoma State with two games on the slate. First up is a non-conference matchup with league-mate Missouri State at 11 a.m. followed by a contest with the Cowgirls at 4:30 p.m. A game versus No. 17 Minnesota (1:30 p.m.) and a rematch with Oklahoma State (7 p.m.) are on the schedule for Saturday before the Bulldogs close the weekend with another contest with the Gophers on Sunday at 10 a.m. Live stats will be available for the Oklahoma State games here. Live stats on the other games are TBD.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, Drake (5-14) captured the Woo Pig Fastpitch Classic title with a 3-1 record, including a 7-4 victory over host No. 24 Arkansas in the title game. The Bulldogs avenged a 10-6 loss to the Razorbacks in the first meeting between the teams in the two-day tournament. Drake added wins over Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin in Fayetteville. Freshman Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) hit a blistering .545 in the classic as her average led the team, going 6-for-11 at the plate along with two runs scored and three runs batted in in the four games. The outfielder recorded four hits, two RBI and two runs scored in a pair of contests against the Razorbacks.
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Sowa's big weekend in Arkansas propelled her to taking home the Missouri Valley Conference Softball Newcomer of the Week award. For the season, Sowa holds the top batting average on the squad at .364 (16-of-44), to go along with one triple, three doubles, six RBI and eight runs scored. She has started 14 of 18 games in 2014, including the last 10.
CHART CLIMBER
Senior Amy Pierce (Olathe, Kan.) is heating up at the plate in her final campaign. Pierce is hitting .270 with a team-leading 17 hits, five doubles, five stolen bases and 11 runs scored. She had two stolen bases in Arkansas to set a record for career stolen bases with 72. Pierce, who has started every game at shortstop for the Bulldogs the previous two seasons, will look to climb several more career statistical categories this year. She is among the top-10 or just outside in several career categories, including hits, at-bats, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in and batting average.
BATTER UP
Senior Liz Buck (Olathe, Kan.) has provided a steady hand at first base with her defense her first three seasons, but entered 2014 with a career batting average of just .189. However, this year along with her usual solid defensive skills, Buck is second on the team with a .333 average. She was held hitless in the Woo Pig title game, but had recorded a hit in five straight games before that.
ITS OUT OF HERE
Junior Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.) has blasted three home runs this season to tie Pierce for the top team mark. Nybo has 22 career blasts, which ranks tied for third all-time. Elena Leon is the school's all-time leader with 33.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Missouri State (11-4)
The Lady Bears enter the Mizuno Classic with wins in 10 out of their last 12 games. Missouri State is led at the plate by sophomore Bethany Sullinger, who is hitting .385 along with a team-leading three home runs and 15 runs batted in. Chelsea Jones and Erin Stuemph log the majority of the innings in the circle for Missouri State. Jones was recently named MVC pitcher of the week, while Stuemph captured MVC newcomer of the week earlier this season.
Oklahoma State (12-7)
Shelby Davis leads the Cowgirls with a blistering .435 batting average, as six others on the team are hitting .300 or above on the year. Simone Freeman is Oklahoma State's ace in the circle with a 9-3 record along with a 1.09 earned run average and 115 strikeouts.
No. 17 Minnesota (15-2)
Minnesota ranked No. 17 in the USA Today/NFCA Poll is coming off a 3-2 victory over No. 3 Arizona State last weekend at the Sun Devils home tournament. The Gophers have lost just twice this campaign, with one of those losses to No. 1 Florida.
UP NEXT
Drake starts MVC play at Illinois State, March 15-16. The Bulldogs took two out of three last season against the Redbirds at Ron Buel Field.
DRAKE PICKED THIRD
The Bulldogs have been picked third in the Missouri Valley Conference's annual preseason poll, the conference office announced in January. Northern Iowa, the defending MVC tournament champion, was unanimously voted number one followed by Illinois State with 83 points. Drake tallied 82 points.
PREVIEWING THE BULLDOGS
Head coach Rich Calvert has an experienced squad in his 12th season leading the Drake University softball program. Calvert, the winningest coach in Drake history, has five seniors and five juniors along with two sophomores and four freshmen on the 2014 roster. The Bulldogs went 29-20 in 2013 with eight games cancelled due to bad weather, but still finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 14-7 mark in conference action.
Four players who earned all-MVC first-team honors last season, Jordan Gronewold (Carlisle, Iowa), Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.), Amy Pierce (Olathe, Kan.) and Nicole Randel (Alpine, Calif.) along with second-team honoree Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) return for the Bulldogs.
Gronewold and Schmidt once again give Drake a formidable rotation in the circle. Gronewold had a team-high 17 wins a year ago and also contributed at the plate hitting .299 with four home runs, eight doubles and 22 runs batted in. In her senior season she will try to ascend in several career pitching statistical categories in program history and will also see time in right field when not in the circle. Schmidt tallied 12 wins last season along with a team-low 2.27 earned run average and a team-high 148 strikeouts. She added an MVC-best eight saves along with three home runs and 12 RBI at the plate. Sophomore Mariah McKinnon (Oxford, Iowa), who made 11 appearances in her first season, rounds out the rotation.
Pierce had an outstanding junior campaign hitting .359 and leading the team in runs scored with 49 and stolen bases with 26. The Olathe, Kan., native started every game at shortstop blasting nine home runs with 27 RBI and was named the Howlett Award winner as Drake's top female athlete of the year. She is just three stolen bases away from the top career mark in Drake history and has a shot to end her career number one all-time in hits. Pierce had 60 hits last season and is 64 away from Kris Cox's school record of 221.
Nybo, who has started every game in her Drake career, returns to third base where along with Pierce, they give the Bulldogs a solid left side of the infield. Nybo has knocked out 19 home runs and driven in 81 runs in her first two years to already be amongst the all-time leaders in Drake history. Freshman Kaitlyn Finneran (Morrison, Ill.) will see time at the hot corner in her first year.
Senior Liz Buck (Overland Park, Kan.) and junior Zeah Peterson (Baxter, Iowa) will share time at first base this spring. Buck had just five errors last year, while Peterson has been the backup catcher the past two seasons.
Junior Laura Brewer (Waukee, Iowa) hit .336 with eight doubles and 15 RBI last year primarily at first base and the designated player position. Brewer will shift to second base in 2014, while sophomore Chelsea Blaylock (Des Moines, Iowa) provides depth up the middle.
Senior Cortney Wood (Alburnett, Iowa) started 43 games at catcher for Drake in her first season after transferring from Indian Hills Community College. Wood hit .272 with three home runs and 19 RBI a year ago and will once again guard the plate. Freshman Ashlie Chambers (Ankeny, Iowa), who helped Ankeny capture the 2013 Iowa Class 5A title, will be Drake's backup catcher and utility infielder.
Randel returns to left field after a standout junior year in which she hit a team-leading .373 with seven home runs and a team-high 41 RBI, which is the third best single season total in program history. Junior Sarah Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) will patrol centerfield for the Bulldogs, while freshmen Maddie Hooyman (Trenton, Mo.) and Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) will see time at the corner outfield spots.
Calvert has a pair of former Drake standouts on his coaching staff in Nicole Wood and Tina DeAngelo. Wood, who played for the Bulldogs from 2004-05, is in her eighth season as an assistant, while DeAngelo (Zuccolo) is in her first year as a volunteer assistant. DeAngelo was a standout pitcher that helped Drake capture back-to-back MVC titles in 1994 and 1995 to qualify for its first-ever NCAA Tournament. Kasey Griffith, who played at SIU-Edwardsville and Dallas Center Grimes, returns for her second season as a volunteer coach.
Drake starts the conference slate with a visit to Illinois State before hosting its home opener against Southern Illinois on March 22. Former MVC-rival Creighton, now a member of the Big East Conference, travels to Des Moines on March 26, then Drake visits Loyola (March 29). The Bulldogs have 15 home games at Ron Buel Field including annual matchups against in-state foes, Iowa State (April 9) and Northern Iowa (April 23). The 2014 MVC tournament will be hosted by Illinois State in Normal, Ill., May 8-10.
This is the 39th season of intercollegiate competition for the Drake softball program.
DRAKE ADDS THREE IN 2014 RECRUITING CLASS
The Bulldogs inked Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.), Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) and Kelsey Wright (Olathe, Kan.) to National Letters of Intent this past November, 2013.
Newman, a pitcher and first baseman from Madison La Follette High School, went 15-4 with a 0.44 earned run average and 311 strikeouts in the circle for the Lancers her junior season. She earned first team all-state honors and was named the Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year and the Wisconsin State Journal/Wisconsin PrepZone.com Area Player of the Year. Newman also plays basketball and earned several honors last season on the hardwood after averaging 18.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.
Smith, a versatile player who has logged time at pitcher, first base and in the outfield, is from Murrieta, Calif. A three-year letterwinner for Paloma Valley High School, she earned All Inland Valley honors her junior season after hitting .406 with six home runs and recording a 1.44 ERA in the circle.
Rounding out the class is Wright from Olathe Northwest High School who hit .581 with a .805 slugging percentage last season on her way to being named first-team all-state. A three-year letterwinner in the infield for the Ravens she helped Northwest capture the Kansas 6A state championship her freshman season.
