CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Drake University softball team blanked DePaul, 9-0, Sunday afternoon in the team's final game at the Doc Halverson Dome Tournament.
Drake (3-2), which had an early turnaround after finishing off an 8-1 victory over South Dakota State this morning at 12:15 a.m., bounced back from an 8-0 loss to Murray State Sunday morning.
The Bulldogs broke open a scoreless contest with the Blue Demons with a six-run third inning.
Libby Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) smoked a ground rule double that plated
Laura Anderson (Boone, Iowa) for the first run.
Sarah Maddox (Henderson, Nev.) followed and drove in Ryan with an RBI single while two batters later freshman
Delaney Taylor (Waukee, Iowa) drove in Ryan with a single up the middle. Next, freshman
Emily Valtman (Newtown, Iowa) crushed her first career home run, a three-run shot, to put Drake up 6-0.
The lead was more than enough for junior ace
Nicole Timmons (Davenport, Iowa), who fired her second one-hitter already this year, to go with four strikeouts. Timmons, who improved to 3-1, faced just one over the minimum as Valtman ended the game early with another three-run home run in the fifth inning.
Valtman led the Bulldogs with a 3-for-3 game with two home runs and six RBI. Anderson and Taylor each added two hits while fourth other Bulldogs had one hit each.
Makenzie Hupke (Independence, Iowa) and
Allie Timmons (Davenport, Iowa) struggled in the circle versus the Racers. Hupke pitched two scoreless innings before Murray State put the first run on the scoreboard in the third frame. Murray State added another run in the fifth as Timmons replaced Hupke after she allowed two singles, a passed ball and one walk. Timmons limited the Racers to just one more run that frame.
Murray State's bat broke open the game in the sixth inning, scoring five runs, all with two outs.
Timmons allowed one single, three doubles and one home run in the big inning.
Macy Johnson (Winterset, Iowa), Maddox and Ryan each had one hit in the loss. Hupke earned her first career loss.
Drake travels to Palo Alto, Calif. for the Stanford Invitational where it will play Hofstra three times and the host school twice. The Bulldogs start the three-day tournament against Hofstra Feb. 14 at 4:30 p.m. CST.
