DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University softball team is puts its undefeated Missouri Valley Conference record on the line this weekend, April 14-15, as it plays host to Valparaiso for the first time at Ron Buel Field.
 
Drake (28-9, 11-0 MVC) will take on Valparaiso (17-16, 4-7 MVC) with a doubleheader Saturday set to begin at 12 p.m. before concluding the series with an 11 a.m. matchup Sunday. For updated series information, due to the forecasted weather for Des Moines this weekend follow Drake Softball on Twitter and check www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com. The weekend series will be the Bulldogs debut on ESPN +. For more information on ESPN+ visit this page.
 
Drake is one of only 15 teams nationwide to hold an undefeated conference record and is tied with Texas State for the most conference wins by an undefeated team in league play. The Bulldogs have been led by stellar pitching from Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.), Kailee Smith (Murietta, Calif.) and Nicole Timmons (Davenport, Iowa) who combine for a 1.29 earned run average. Drake's combined ERA ranks tenth nationally.
 
Newman picked up her fifth MVC Pitcher of the Week honor April 9 following a dominant performance against Southern Illinois. Newman opened the series with her first career no hitter and tied her career-best mark with 17 strikeouts. She walked just two Salukis and improved to 12-2 on the season. In the series finale, she pitched 2.1 innings of relief, struck out five and earned her first save of the season.
 
Newman's performance last weekend moved her to second all-time at Drake in career strikeouts with 699 and is tied for fifth all-time in career wins with 54.
 
Sarah Maddox (Henderson, Nev.) helped lead Drake to another MVC series sweep over SIU with a .500 (4-for-8) batting average to go along with one walk and two runs scored. She had back-to-back two-hit games in the doubleheader. This season, Maddox leads the Bulldogs with a .429 batting average in conference play and a team-leading 23 runs batted in overall play.
 
Last weekend, Valparaiso picked up a 2-0 victory over UNI in the series opener before dropping the final two games by scores of 5-0 and 7-3. Jaymee Lawton has a conference-best 10 home runs while Morgan Matalin went 5-for-8 in the Crusaders series against UNI. Valpo earned a midweek 4-0 victory over Fort Wayne.
 
Following this weekend, the Bulldogs will travel to in-state rival, UNI, for a doubleheader April 17. The doubleheader is set to begin at 4 p.m. in Cedar Falls and will be broadcast on ESPN+.