DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake Bulldogs softball team split its Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader against the Indiana State Sycamores on Saturday (April 18) at Ron Buel Field. Indiana State (18-23, 10-9 MVC) rallied for a 2-1 win in extra innings in the opening game before Drake (25-14, 15-4 MVC) fought back to take game two, 5-4.
Drake claimed an early 1-0 lead in the first game as Kelsey Wright (Olathe, Kan.) launched a solo home run; it was the fifth home run of the season for the freshman.
Indiana State evened the score at 1-1 in the sixth inning on a two-out RBI double by Aubre Carpenter. The Sycamores scored the deciding run in the eighth inning on a RBI single by Alexa Cavin.
Senior Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) took the tough loss. Schmidt pitched all eight innings and allowed just the two runs on five hits while walking one and striking out 11.
Senior Laura Brewer (Waukee, Iowa) led the Bulldogs at the plate with two hits. Drake stranded six base runners, including leaving four in scoring position.
The second game was back-and-forth as it was Indiana State who grabbed the first lead. Megan Stone roped a two-run double in the third frame for the game's first runs as the Sycamores led 2-0.
Drake answered in the fourth inning as sophomore Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) blasted a solo shot to start the frame. Three batters later, pitcher Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.), who started in the circle, lined a run-scoring single to make the score 2-2. It was the second career hit and RBI for the freshman.
Indiana State had an answer in the next inning as the Sycamores claimed the lead once again at 3-2. Carpenter hit a ball that dropped right in front of Bulldogs third baseman Kaitlynn Finneran (Morrison, Ill.) for a fielder's choice to score Brown from third base. Brown had reached on a walk and then advanced all the way to third after her teammate Ashley Dickerson tried to score from second after a pickoff attempt on the play.
Sowa came up big again with an RBI single that plated freshman Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) as the score was again tied, this time at 3-3
Cavin had another RBI single, this in the sixth inning, which scored Stone to give the Sycamores a 4-3 advantage. Stone had led off the inning with a single.
Down to its final three outs, Drake entered the seventh inning looking to avoid losing back-to-back games since all the way back in February when it dropped games to Arizona (Feb. 15) and McNeese State (Feb. 26).
The Bulldogs had an answer led by three of its four freshmen on the roster. First Alexander drilled a ball in the gap with one out for her second double of the game. The next batter, freshman Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) pinch-hit for senior Sarah Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) and drilled a ball of her own in the gap for an RBI double. Then it was Wright who answered the challenge as she lined a single up the middle that scored Ryan, who reentered the game for Smith, for the walk-off win.
Schmidt picked up the win in relief of Newman, as her record is 15-10. Newman went 6.1 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits while walking six and striking out seven. She now has 20 strikeouts in her last starts. Schmidt pitched just 0.2 innings with two strikeouts.
The Bulldogs and Sycamores will finish the series Sunday, April 19 with a single contest at 12 p.m. Rain is in the forecast for Sunday so be sure to check www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com and the team's Twitter account (@DrakeSoftball) for game time updates and/or cancellation.
