DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University softball team rallied to beat Bradley, 11-3, Sunday in the regular season finale at Ron Buel Field.
 
Drake (29-23, 17-8 MVC) fell behind 3-0 to Bradley (18-29, 12-14 MVC) before rallying for the second-straight game as the Bulldogs completed the three-game sweep of the Braves. Prior to the game, Drake honored its lone senior, Mariah McKinnon (Oxford, Iowa).
 
Sophomore Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) led Drake at the plate and in the circle. Newman allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with 12 strikeouts to improve to 21-12 overall. At the plate, she finished 3-for-4 with one double, one home run and a career-high five runs batted in.
 
Junior Megan Sowa (Columbia, Ill.) blasted a three-run home run in the fourth inning for the go-ahead runs. Sowa finished 1-for-3 with two walks, three runs scored and three RBI.
 
Freshman Taryn Pena (Columbia, Ill.) started the comeback with a run-scoring double for the Bulldogs' first run of the game and two batters later Newman helped her cause with a two-out, two-run double to tie the game at 3-3.
 
Sowa's blast came in the fourth inning, also with two outs, as McKinnon drew her second walk of the game and two batters later freshman Kennedy Frank (Chesterfield, Mo.) was awarded first base due to catcher's interference. Sowa then came up and blasted the ball over the centerfield fence for her sixth home run of the season.
 
In the fifth inning, sophomore Kelsey Wright (Olathe, Kan.) plated a pair of runs with a single to give Drake an 8-3 lead. Newman ended the game in the sixth inning with a deep blast over the left field wall, her third home run of the year, as Drake won 11-3.
 
McKinnon finished with two walks and one run scored in her final home game.
 
Drake will play its first game at the MVC Tournament, held in Carbondale, Ill., Friday, May 13 at 2:30 p.m. against the winner of that morning's quarterfinals action between the number three seed vs. the number six or seven seed. Every game of the MVC Tournament will be broadcast online via The Valley On ESPN3.