NORMAL, Illinois -- The Drake University softball team split its afternoon with Illinois State on Tuesday April 5.
ISU 8, Drake 0
The Redbirds swept the Bulldogs in game one when they took an early lead in the bottom of the first.
Illinois State scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to increase their lead to 6-0 over the Bulldogs. The Redbirds pinch hitter led the team with two RBI's in game one.
Macy Johnson,
Delaney Taylor, and
Alexia Lara all recorded one hit for the Bulldogs in the loss.
Drake 13, ISU 0
The Bulldogs took an immediate lead in game two when
Libby Ryan doubled down the left field line allowing
Delaney Taylor to advance to third from second and
Macy Johnson to score.
On the very next play,
Addie Lightner doubled to right center field and brought home both Taylor and Ryan, putting Drake up 3-0.
In the top of the fourth,
Skylar Rigby was the second Bulldog up to the plate and slammed a ball past center field to record her first career homerun and bring home
Heidi Wheeler who pinch ran for Lightner.
Drake continued its scoring run when
Paige Bedsworth singled through the left side to bring home both
Emily Valtman and
Haylee Lehman. With two outs and a 1-1 count, Lightner doubled down the left line to bring Bedsworth and Johnson across home plate and advance the Bulldogs lead to 9-0.
Johnson recorded one stolen base in the game, marking her 100th career stolen base. She remains in the number one spot in Drake record books for most in their career.
The top of the fifth brought in four more runs for Drake, bringing its lead to 13. Lightner led the Bulldogs with four RBI's and Bedsworth added three.
In game two, Lightner recorded a .750 batting average as she recorded three hits on four at bats.
Bedsworth started in the circle for Drake to record her second career start and third career win. In her five innings, she only allowed two hits and recorded three strikeouts. Her versatility continued for the Bulldogs as she tallied three RBI's on one hit.
The Bulldogs remain on the road as they head to Iowa City to take on Iowa on Wednesday April 6 at 5pm.
