CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Drake University softball team defeated Illinois State, 5-1, in a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinal Friday to advance to Saturday's championship game at Charlotte West Stadium.
 
Drake (30-23), the tournament number two seed, will play top-seeded Wichita State in the program's first title game appearance since 2011.
 
Sophomore Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) pitched a complete game against Illinois State (20-33). Newman, the 2016 MVC Pitcher of the Year, allowed one run on three hits with 12 strikeouts and just one walk as she improved to 22-12 with the win.
 
Sophomore Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) drove in Drake's first run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning that scored freshman Kennedy Frank (Chesterfield, Mo.). Two innings later, Smith added another run to the scoreboard with a sacrifice bunt fielder's choice that plated Frank once again. Newman helped her cause at the next at-bat with an RBI single that brought in freshman Taryn Pena (Columbia, Ill.). Sophomore Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) drove in the final two runs of the frame with a two-RBI single that scored Newman and Smith as Alexander was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double but not before Drake built a 5-0 lead.
 
Illinois State scored its only run in the fourth inning on a solo home run by Riley Strandgard. Newman wasn't fazed as she didn't allow one hit after Strandgard's home run.
 
Alexander led the Bulldogs with two hits and two RBI while Frank, Newman, Pena and junior Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) each had one hit.
 
Drake will look to avenge a series-sweep at the hands of Wichita State earlier this season. The winner of the 1 p.m. title game will earn the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The game against the Shockers will be shown online on The Valley On ESPN3.