DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake Bulldogs softball team cruised past the Loyola Ramblers in their doubleheader by scores of 11-3 and 2-1, respectively, on Friday afternoon (April 3) at Ron Buel Field.
The Bulldogs improved to 19-12 on the season and 9-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Ramblers fall to 11-20 overall and 2-8 in the MVC.
In game one, Drake scored 11 runs on 11 hits in six innings. After four walks in the first inning and a base hit from freshman Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.), Drake led 2-0 and never trailed in the game. Smith connected with another run scoring base hit in the second inning to help increase Drake's lead to 5-0 and the Bulldogs added one more run in the frame to lead 6-0 after two innings.
Loyola tallied back-to-back hits in the third, but did not score until the fifth inning on a home run by junior Hannah Jenkins.
Drake freshman Kelsey Wright (Olathe, Kan.) had two RBIs in the opening game, one of them coming from her triple in the fifth inning. Sophomore Kaitlyn Finneran (Morrison, Ill.) along with Smith had a team-leading two hits in the game. Finneran also scored Drake's deciding run on a bases loaded walk drawn by Sarah Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa).
Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) had seven strikeouts in game one improving her record to 10-8 on the season. This win marks the 47th of her career. Schmidt has passed Drake pitching coach Tina DeAngelo (Zuccolo) for the seventh-most career wins in program history.
Freshman Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) took the mound in game two and finished with eight strikeouts making that 83 on the year. She allowed just four hits, one run and one walk as she moved to 9-3 on the season.
Trailing 1-0 entering the fifth inning Drake's bats heated up, which started with a single from sophomore Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.). She scored on senior Laura Brewer's (Waukee, Iowa) double and senior Hayley Nybo (Minnetonka, Minn.) connected for a double next to give Drake the lead at 2-1. The Bulldogs held on for the next two innings, ending the game with a strikeout Newman. Drake finished the final game of the afternoon with eight hits led by Sowa with three while freshman Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) added two hits with Brewer, Nybo and Schmidt each finishing with one.
Drake and Loyola are back in action again on Saturday, April 4 with first pitch scheduled for noon at Ron Buel Field.
