TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Drake University softball team opens the month of March with five games at the Easton Crimson Classic hosted by No. 9 Alabama, March 3-5.
Drake opens the classic Friday with games against Stanford and Alabama at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. CST, respectively. Drake once again takes on Alabama Saturday at 4 p.m. followed by a game against Jacksonville at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs close out the Classic with a second matchup against Stanford Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Drake's pair of games against Alabama will be broadcast on the SEC Network + and will have an audio broadcast online through
Praise 93.3. All live stats for each game and the links for the Alabama games are available at the
tournament central page.
Last weekend, Drake (12-5) went 5-1 at the Mardi Gras Classic in Lafayette, La., picking up two wins against Bowling Green as well as wins over Maryland, Dartmouth and Mississippi Valley State. The Bulldogs' sole loss came against then No. 16 Louisiana. Drake has eight victories in the past 10 games.
Drake freshman
Sarah Maddox (Henderson, Nev.) earned MVC Newcomer of the Week honors following her performance in La. Maddox went 8-18 at the plate with three home runs, three walks, five runs scored, 10 runs batted in as well as compiling a .524 on-base percentage and slugging .944. Her home run (six) and RBI (18) totals lead the MVC so this season.
The Bulldogs junior pitching duo,
Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) and
Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) led the Bulldogs to their 5-1 finish. Smith, now 4-2 this season, went 2-0 collecting
wins against Bowling Green and Mississippi Valley State and one save in the Maryland victory. Smith pitched 22.0 innings in four appearances allowing 12 runs with 17 strikeouts. Newman compiled a 2-1 record, picking up wins over Dartmouth and Maryland as well as one save against Bowling Green. In 12.0 innings, she gave up six runs while striking out 25 batters.
Drake faces a Top-25 team for the third consecutive tournament this season with two games against No. 9 Alabama. Alabama went 5-0 at the Easton Bama Bash before winning an eight-inning game against UAB on Tuesday. Stanford and Jacksonville are each 10-5 this season. Jacksonville went 4-0 at the Dolphin Invitational while Stanford had a 3-2 performance at the Mary Nutter Invitational last weekend.
After the Easton Crimson Classic, the Bulldogs close out their non-conference schedule at the Jayhawk Invitational hosted by Kansas. Drake will play five games in Lawrence, Kan. from March 10-12, opening the invitational against UMKC on March 10 at 1 p.m.
