DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake Bulldogs softball team split its doubleheader with the UNI Panthers on Tuesday (April 14) evening at Ron Buel Field. UNI (15-22, 9-7 MVC) took game one, 3-1, before Drake (25-13, 14-3 MVC) bounced back with a 6-2 win in the nightcap.
The defeat in game one snapped a six-game winning streak for senior pitcher Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) in the circle as her record dropped to 14-9 on the season. She gave up three runs on five hits while striking out seven Panthers.
Schmidt allowed a leadoff home run by Caitlin Wnek to open the game as UNI grabbed an early 1-0 lead.
Chelsea Ross added a two-run home run in the fourth inning to stretch the Panthers' advantage to 3-0.
Sophomore Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) hit a solo home run, her fifth of the year, to chip away at the UNI lead 3-1, but senior Laura Brewer (Waukee, Iowa) grounded out to end the game.
The Bulldogs stranded eight runners and struck out 11 times to Ross, as she equaled her career high in strikeouts.
Brewer finished with a team-high two hits while Schmidt and freshman Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) each had one hit.
Drake roared out of the gates with six runs in the first inning of the second game. The Bulldogs batted recording three hits while taking advantage of three errors by UNI. Senior Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.) and sophomore Kaitlyn Finneran (Morrison, Ill.) each had RBI-singles while senior Sarah Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) ripped a two-RBI single for the final runs of the inning.
Freshman pitcher Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.), who struck out a career-high 13 batters, was dominant in game two. Newman carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before it was broken up by Kennedy Bailey's two-run home run with one out. Newman hit the next batter, Ross, after the home run, but buckled down by striking out the next two hitters to end the game. Newman improved to 11-3 with the win.
Nybo and Ryan led Drake with two hits each in the nightcap while Alexander, Finneran, Sowa and Schmidt had one hit each.
Drake hosts Indiana State at Ron Buel on April 18 for a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. The Bulldogs and Sycamores will finish the series April 19 with a single contest at 12 p.m.
