DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake Bulldogs softball team completed a series sweep over the Loyola Ramblers with a 4-1 victory on Saturday (April 4) at Ron Buel Field. The win moves Drake to 20-12 overall and 10-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference to remain in first place in the standings.
Senior Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.) earned the win to improve her record to 11-8 in the circle. Schmidt pitched five innings and allowed one run on four hits while striking out three and walking two. Freshman Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) tossed two innings in relief to pick up her first career save. Newman gave up just two hits while striking out one.
Loyola, who drops to 11-21 and 2-9 in league play with the loss, scored the game's first run in the fifth inning off a sacrifice fly by Brooke Wyderski. Prior to the first run, both teams had several scoring opportunities, putting runners on base in nearly every inning, but neither could push anything across the board.
Drake answered Loyola's run in the bottom of the fifth with three runs on some timely hits and alert base running. Senior Laura Brewer (Waukee, Iowa) plated fellow senior Sarah Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) with a bases loaded single between the third baseman and shortstop for the Bulldogs first run. Later Schmidt hit a fielder's choice that scored sophomore Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) and freshman Kelsey Wright (Olathe, Kan.) for two more runs as the Bulldogs commanded the lead, 3-1.
In the seventh inning, Wright added an insurance run with a RBI groundout that scored sophomore Kaitlyn Finneran (Morrison, Ill.).
Drake embarks on a six-game road trip this upcoming week. First is a visit to Lincoln, Neb. for a doubleheader against Nebraska on Tuesday, April 8 with the first game starting at 5 p.m. The next day the Bulldogs travel to Iowa State for a single game at 5 p.m. before returning to MVC play with a trip to SIU, April 11-12, for three games.
