FORT COLLINS, Colo. – For its final regular season tournament the Drake University softball team will travel to Fort Collins, Colo. for the Colorado State Classic. Drake is set to play five games over three days with the tournament schedule slightly adjusted due to snow on the ground in Fort Collins. To allow more time for the snow to melt and make the field playable the Bulldogs will now start the tournament with one game Friday against Valparaiso at 2:30 p.m. CST. On Saturday the team will play Valparaiso again at 12:15 p.m. before closing the day against Colorado State at 4:45 p.m. Drake concludes the tournament on Sunday with games against Omaha at 10 a.m. and Colorado State at 12:15 p.m. Live stats for each game will be available at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com. For live stats, results and schedule visit the tourament central page.
REWIND
Last week unfavorable weather conditions in Tennessee forced Drake (7-7) to change its game schedule. A doubleheader at Austin Peay and four games at the Purple and Gold Challenge in Nashville were cancelled. Instead the Bulldogs traveled to St. Charles, La. for three games at the Cowgirl Classic hosted by McNeese State. In St. Charles, Drake earned a 12-0 win over Texas Tech and lost to McNeese State, 6-1, and Memphis, 6-3.
CHART CLIMBER
Senior Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.) is batting .293 with four home runs and 13 runs batted in in her final season for the Bulldogs. Nybo drove in two runs in the big win over Texas Tech to give her 116 career RBIs to pass former great Dani Tyler (115) for the all-time mark in school history. Nybo is tied for ninth in career doubles with 30 and second in career home runs with 27. Elena Leon (2007-10) is the school's all-time leader in home runs with 33.
1-2 COMBINATION IN THE CIRCLE
Senior Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) and freshman Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) are pitching well in the circle for the Bulldogs. Schmidt is 3-5 with
a 3.25 earned run average and 44 strikeouts. Schmidt's three wins this season give her 40 for her career, which is tied for eighth all-time in school history. She is leading the team in batting average at .350 and has one home run and six runs batted in. Newman is 4-2 with a 2.55 ERA and 41 strikeouts. She struck out nine batters in the Texas Tech win and 11 in the loss to Memphis. Schmidt was named the Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the week on Feb. 9 while Newman garnered the honor on Feb. 16.
SENIOR EXPERIENCE
Drake's other two seniors, Laura Brewer (Waukee, Iowa) and Sarah Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) are off to great starts in their final seasons as well. Brewer, who had an outstanding junior season capped by being named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference second team, is hitting .302 with one home run, two doubles and four runs batted in. Ryan, the Bulldogs' defensive anchor in centerfield, is off to a hot start at the plate. A career .153 hitter coming into the season, Ryan is batting .300 with a double, two stolen bases and two runs batted in while drawing six walks.
OPPONENTS
Valparaiso (3-6) has 10 hitters batting .320 or higher led by Jenna Stauffenberg at .467. The Crusaders have not played since Feb. 21 after their trip to Fayetteville, Ark. for a tournament was cancelled due to the weather.
Colorado State (8-12) is led at the plate by Savan Clark with a team-leading .333 batting average while Danie Wikre has launched a team-high six home runs and driven in a team-best 18 runs.
Omaha (6-7) is coming off losses to then No. 8 Georgia and No. 23 Notre Dame, respectively, in Orlando, Fla. Senior Allie Matthewson, a transfer from Creighton, leads the Mavericks in home runs with five and runs batted in with 10.
UP NEXT
Drake opens MVC play at Missouri State on March 14-15 with three games scheduled against the Bears. On the way back from Springfield, Mo., the Bulldogs will stop in Lawrence, Kan. on March 16 to play Kansas in one game set for 1 p.m. Drake hosts Evansville, March 21-22, in its home opener at Ron Buel Field.
PREVIEWING THE BULLDOGS IN 2015
The Drake softball team led by head coach Rich Calvert in his 13th season has 10 returning letterwinners on its 14-player roster for 2015. Calvert, the winningest coach in program history, has a nearly 50-50 split of youth and veteran experience on his roster with eight freshmen or sophomores along with six seniors or juniors.
The four-member senior class of Laura Brewer (Waukee, Iowa), Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.), Sarah Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) and Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) has 87 wins in their first three seasons.
Brewer had a monster junior season that was capped with a selection to the All-Missouri Valley Conference second team. Brewer, who will shift to first base after spending last season as the team's primary second baseman, set career-highs at the plate with a team-leading nine home runs and 34 runs batted in.
Nybo will look to bounce back after a tough junior season in which she was recovering from a major knee injury suffered late in 2013 fall practice. Nybo will transition back to third base after spending most of 2014 in right field. The Minnetonka, Minn., native has 23 career home runs and 103 runs batted in. Both marks are number three all-time in school history as she tries for the top spot in each category.
Ryan is the Bulldogs' defensive anchor in center field. Last season, she made 50 starts and appeared in all 52 games, compiling a impressive .987 fielding percentage with just one error. Ryan made numerous outstanding catches and threw out the potential tying run to end a back-and-forth, 10-9, victory over the Iowa State Cyclones at Ron Buel Field on April 9.
Schmidt is Drake's ace in the circle in her final season. She earned all-MVC honors the past two seasons, including a selection to the first team in 2014. The Cottage Grove, Minn., native has collected 446 strikeouts and 37 wins in her career. Schmidt's bat in the middle of the lineup will be key again for the Bulldogs after smashing six doubles, six home runs and driving in 21 runs last season.
Chelsea Blaylock (Des Moines, Iowa) and Mariah McKinnon (Oxford, Iowa) comprise Drake's junior class. Calvert will utilize Blaylock's versatility as she can play second or third base or shortstop for the Bulldogs. McKinnon will serve as a relief pitcher with the capability to make a spot start if necessary, and will also spend time in the outfield.
Sophomore Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) was outstanding at the plate and in left field for Drake in her first season as she was named to the all-MVC first team and to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Midwest All-Region Third Team. She hit a team-leading .382 behind a team-high 55 hits and also paced the team in triples (2), on-base percentage (.469). She appeared in 51 games, and committed just one error while recording 68 putouts. Sowa will again patrol left field and bat in the second spot in the lineup for the Bulldogs in 2015.
Kaitlyn Finneran (Morrison, Ill.) will be Drake's shortstop this season. She assumes the role vacated by Amy Pierce, who graduated as one of the top players in school history. Finneran has made tremendous growth from last season and will be a tough out at the plate for opponents.
Ashlie Chambers (Ankeny, Iowa), a versatile athlete, will be Drake's catcher. Chambers was a all-state shortstop for Ankeny High School, but was recruited by Calvert to play catcher. She provides a strong arm behind the plate that will help slow opponent's running games.
Rounding out the sophomore class is Maddie Hooyman (Trenton, Mo.) who has made great strides in her development. Hooyman will get playing time in right field while also pinch-hitting and running off the bench for the Bulldogs.
Drake welcomes four freshmen for the 2015 season. Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) is an outstanding athlete that lettered all years in high school in basketball, softball and volleyball. Alexander will see time at shortstop and in the outfield. Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) will backup Schmidt in the circle and play first base for the Bulldogs. Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) provides a bat off the bench and can play in the outfield, and also pitch. Rounding out the first-year class is Kelsey Wright (Olathe, Kan.) who will play second and third base and may also see time in the outfield.
Calvert's coaching staff includes Tina DeAngelo and Kasey Griffith who have been elevated to assistant coaches after serving as volunteer coaches. Cortney Wood enters her first season as a volunteer coach after wrapping up her two-year playing career for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs open their MVC slate at the Missouri State Bears, March 14-15. Drake will host Evansville, March 21-22, in its MVC home opener. Along with the always-challenging MVC slate, the Bulldogs' non-conference schedule includes games at Kansas (March 16), a doubleheader at Nebraska (April 7), at Iowa State (April 8) and a doubleheader at former MVC-rival Creighton (April 29). Non-conference home games are scheduled against Iowa (April 1) and Iowa State (April 21). Drake concludes its regular season Valley schedule at Ron Buel Field against Illinois State (May 2-3). The 2015 MVC Tournament is May 7-9 in Wichita, Kan.
