The Basics
The Drake softball team stays on the road for its upcoming weekend in the Sooner State. The Bulldogs travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play four games against Kansas City and Tulsa Feb. 28-March 1and then make the trip over to Stillwater for a clash with No. 15 Oklahoma State on Sunday, March 2.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Last weekend, Drake competed in the Easton Bama Bash going 1-4 against Southern Utah, No. 17 Virginia Tech and No. 21 Alabama. The Bulldogs are currently 2-7 in the early portion of their 2025 campaign.
Frankie Rita leads the Bulldogs in hitting with a batting average of .448. She's collected 13 hits so far this season including a double and triple.
Emma Dighton has also provided some pop at the plate for Drake and ranks second on the team in hitting with a .381 average.
Paige Bedsworth earned her first win in the circle this season in Drake's victory over Southern Utah on Feb. 23. The senior tossed a complete game with three hits allowed, no earned runs, and three strikeouts.
Scouting the Competition
Drake opens the weekend with a double header against Kansas City and Tulsa on Friday, Feb. 28. The Bulldogs take on the Roos in game one followed by game two with the Golden Hurricanes.
The Roos have had a tough start to their season coming into the weekend with an overall record of 0-9. Kansas City opened its season with a doubleheader against UTEP and has competed in two tournaments, the New Mexico State Invitational and the McNeese State Tournament. Kansas City was selected to finish fifth in the Summit League preseason poll.
Kendyl Anderson leads the Roos in hitting with a batting average of .316 (6-for-19) to go along with one double and a pair of RBI. Derika Castillo leads the team in RBI with five and is hitting at a clip of .304. In the circle, Riley Bebb has made seven appearances with four starts. In 18.0 innings of work, she has totaled four strikeouts and 13 walks.
In the all-time series between Drake and Kansas City, the Bulldogs lead by a slim margin, 9-7. Drake is on a two-game winning streak over Kansas City as it won both neutral site matchups last season. The Bulldogs and Roos are split at 4-4 in neutral site meetings all-time, however.
After Friday, Drake takes on Tulsa two more times in a doubleheader on Saturday. The Golden Hurricanes post a current record of 7-8 winning their most recent outing over South Dakota State. Tulsa has faced top competition a couple of times this season falling to the ranks of Oklahoma and Texas.
Claira Skaggs is the top hitter for Tulsa so far this season with a batting average of .372 over 15 games. Skaggs has also displayed her power hitting four doubles and two home runs to go along with 12 RBI. From a pitching perspective, Maura Moore tallies a record of 5-4 with a 2.82 ERA. Over 44.2 innings, the senior has 29 strikeouts compared to 14 walks with an opponent's average of .269.
Tulsa leads the all-time series over Drake, 6-2. The Golden Hurricanes have won the last four over the Bulldogs and every game played in the series has taken place from Tulsa.
Drake closes out its weekend with a single contest against No. 15 Oklahoma State from Stillwater on Sunday, March 2. OSU has played arguably the toughest schedule in the nation through the first two weeks of competition and sits at 8-4 with wins over No. 9 Florida State, No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 14 Alabama. Six of the Cowgirls first nine games came against ranked opponents, with four of those six against top-10 opponents.
On the offensive side, sophomores Rosie Davis and Karli Godwin provide a dynamic dup, as the former leads the team in RBIs (16), while the latter is second on the team in total bases (21). In the circle, sophomore righty Katie Kutz leads the team with a 5-1 record and was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 18.
Sunday will be the eighth all-time meeting between Drake and Oklahoma State with the Cowgirls leading the series, 6-1. Drake's lone win over Oklahoma State came back in 2007 in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Up Next
Drake will travel to Kansas City for the Kansas City Roos Invitational, March 7-9. The Bulldogs will play five games over the weekend against host institution Kansas City and St. Thomas (MN).
