CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Drake University softball blanked Saint Louis, 7-0, on Friday evening at the UNI-Dome Classic to open the 2016 season. Drake slugged 15 hits and sophomore pitcher Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) was dominant in the circle allowing just one hit while striking out 13 Billikens and working around five walks.
 
Drake (1-0) had three players, Ashlie Chambers (Ankeny, Iowa), Kaitlyn Finneran (Morrison, Ill.) and Gabbie Jonas (Omaha, Neb.) each collect three hits. Jonas drove in three runs and Finneran had two runs batted in.
 
Jonas ripped a two-run double in the fourth quarter to break open a scoreless game to that point as she drove in Finneran and Chambers, who each roped singles.
 
In the next frame, sophomore Kelsey Wright (Olathe, Kan.) drew a leadoff walk then moved to third base on freshman Kennedy Frank's (Chesterfield, Mo.) double. One batter later, junior Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) lifted a sacrifice fly to score Wright. The Bulldogs weren't done scoring as another freshman, Taryn Pena (Columbia, Ill.) followed with her own double to bring in Frank. Finneran followed with her own RBI-double and Jonas added another run-scoring double to make the score 6-0. Finneran drove in the final run in the seventh inning with an RBI single.
 
Drake continues the UNI-Dome Classic with games against Nebraska and Green Bay on Saturday at 10:15 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.