PALO ALTO, Calif. – Following a season-opening 3-2 performance at the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic, the Drake University softball team heads out west for the Stanford Invitational, February 14-16. Drake is scheduled to take on Hofstra three times throughout the weekend starting Friday at 4:30 p.m. CST and the host Cardinal squad twice. Live stats and live video will be available for every game. View the Bulldogs' entire tournament schedule here.
 
Drake (3-2) is coming off a promising opening weekend in the UNI-Dome, where the team took home three wins, including two shutouts. The Bulldogs opened the tournament against South Dakota, winning 4-0. Nicole Timmons (Davenport, Iowa) pitched her first shutout of the season, allowing only one hit and two walks while striking out 14 of 24 batters faced.
 
Drake closed the tournament Sunday with a 9-0 win over DePaul, avenging a loss to the Blue Demons the day before and bouncing back from a defeat to Murray State that morning. Freshmen Emily Valtman (Newton, Iowa) had an explosive offensive performance with two home runs and six runs batted in as the second home run, a three-run shot, ended the game early.
 
Coming off their performances at UNI, Valtman and Timmons were named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
 
Timmons was impressive in the circle going 3-1 with a 0.36 earned run average with 22 strikeouts to just four walks. She added another shutout in the DePaul victory and collected her other win against South Dakota State when she pitched six innings and allowed just one run on five hits with four strikeouts.
 
Junior Macy Johnson (Winterset, Iowa) led the Bulldogs' offense with three doubles, a .533 batting average, a .667 on-base percentage and took a team-best six walks. Valtman has a team-high eight RBI and two home runs.
 
This weekend is the season opener for Hofstra, which is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. The Pride enter the 2020 season coming off a 20-27 record last season while sporting one of the youngest rosters in the nation.
 
Stanford, which received five votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top-25 Coaches Poll, has a 5-1 overall record. The Cardinal is coming off their season-opening tournament at the Grand Canyon Kickoff where they beat Grand Canyon and Weber State each twice and split with New Mexico.
 
Following the trip to Palo, Alto., Drake will head to Phoenix, Ariz. for the Grand Canyon Purple Classic from Feb. 21-23, where the Bulldogs will take on CSUN, GCU and Utah State.