LAWRENCE, Kan. – After not being able to play on Saturday at the Jayhawk Invitational due to cold and snow, the Drake University softball team blasted Iowa, 11-1, in six innings on Sunday to close the tournament.
 
Drake (16-9) slugged three home runs and received an excellent performance in the circle by junior Kailee Smith (Murietta, Calif.) in the big win. Junior Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) slugged a two-run homer, Smith smashed a three-run blast to help her own cause and senior Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) crushed her third career grand slam.
 
Smith pitched six innings and allowed one earned run on six hits with one walk and one strikeout. With the win, she improved to 7-5 on the season.
 
Freshman Mandi Roemmich (West Des Moines, Iowa) put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard with an RBI double in the third inning. Drake added another run in the frame, capitalizing on a Hawkeyes' error. Iowa (2-13) scored in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead in half, but Alexander and Smith homered in the fifth inning and Sowa added her grand slam in the sixth to end the game one inning early.
 
Alexander and Sowa each had three hits while freshmen Abby Buie (Gardner, Kan.) and Sarah Maddox (Henderson, Nev.) each had two hits.
 
Drake starts MVC play on March 18 at Wichita State with a doubleheader scheduled for noon.