CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The Drake University softball team opens the 2020 season Friday night against South Dakota at 6 p.m. at the Doc Halverson Dome Classic. Drake, which is scheduled to play five games at UNI's annual winter tournament inside the UNI-Dome, will play DePaul and South Dakota State Saturday at 2:45 and 7:15 p.m., respectively. The Bulldogs close the three-day tournament Sunday against Murray State at 9:30 a.m. and a rematch with DePaul at 2 p.m.
Live stats will be available for each game this weekend.
For the second-straight season, Drake is tabbed the favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference's annual preseason poll as voted by the league's coaches. Drake, the back-to-back MVC regular season and tournament champions, earned four first place votes and 89 points in the 2020 poll. Head coach
Rich Calvert, who is entering his 18
th season at the helm, has six returning starters from last season's squad that also qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. Nine returners and six newcomers comprise the 2020 roster.
Three of those returning starters is the senior trio of
Abby Buie,
Sarah Maddox and
Mandi Roemmich. Last season, Buie started 58-of-59 games in left field, batted a career-high .268 and swiped a career-best 17 bases. Due to an injury last year, Maddox wasn't able to play in the field or hit for the Bulldogs until league play started. However, Maddox, who plays first base, shook off the rust to bat a career-high .322, hit three home runs and drive in 21 runs. Maddox is just outside the top 10 in career home runs with 16 and runs batted in with 85. Rounding out the seniors is Roemmich, who has played 165 career games at shortstop. She was the 2018 MVC Player of the Year, a 2019 First Team Academic All-American and is a three-time All-MVC selection. Roemmich will strive to become the school's career leader in several offensive categories with her career totals in doubles at 38, runs scored at 114 and hits with 189. The school's all-time marks are held by Hayley Nybo in doubles with 42, Amy Pierce in runs with 142 and Kris Cox in hits with 221.
Laura Anderson,
Macy Johnson,
Libby Ryan and
Nicole Timmons comprise the Bulldogs' junior class. Anderson will battle for playing time at catcher as the team looks to fill the void left by four-year starter,
Gabbie Jonas. Johnson has collected back-to-back All-MVC honors her first two seasons, playing right field her freshman season and center field last season. Her name is already in the career top 10 in stolen bases (44) and walks (71). Ryan burst onto the scene with an outstanding sophomore season when she batted .338 with three home runs, 34 RBI and tied the school's single-season stolen base record with a team-leading 26. She garnered All-MVC Second Team honors. This year, Ryan will play second base for the Bulldogs after spending her first two seasons in the outfield. Timmons moves into the ace role with
Nicole Newman's graduation. Timmons has been named to the All-MVC Second Team each of her first two seasons and already has 28 career wins and 282 career strikeouts.
Sophomores
Alexia Lara and
Hannah Pals will each look to bounce back from injuries that caused them each to miss significant time last season.
Calvert has one of his largest groups of newcomers in his tenure as the longest head coach in school history. The Bulldogs have six freshmen or redshirt freshmen on their team. San Jose State transfer
Kristen Arias will battle Anderson and Lara for playing time at catcher.
Aubree Beitzinger, from Pittsburg, Kan., will compete for the third base job.
Mackenzie Hupke is a pitcher from Independence, Iowa.
Delaney Taylor will play outfield for the Bulldogs after a successful prep career in softball and track field at Waukee High School.
Allie Timmons, from Davenport, Iowa, joined Drake's team after spending the fall semester at the University of Iowa. She is the younger sister of
Nicole Timmons and will join her sister and Hupke in the rotation. Rounding out the group is
Emily Valtman from Newtown, Iowa. Valtman is a catcher and utility player.
Calvert has again put together a challenging schedule for his team with along with annual UNI tournament trips to tournaments hosted by Grand Canyon, Kansas, Stanford and a combination tournament hosted by Tulsa and Oklahoma State. Those tournaments along with non-conference games against Iowa, Iowa State and Western Illinois will help the Bulldogs prepare for the always challenging 27-game MVC slate. Drake's home debut is scheduled for March 28-29 when Bradley visits Buel Field.
