NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Drake softball team returned to the road for its first Missouri Valley Conference series of the season as it took on Belmont in a doubleheader on Friday. The offense was hard to come by for the Bulldogs, which resulted in two losses on the day.
Belmont 4, Drake 2
The Bruins were on the scoreboard first to take an early lead over the Bulldogs. Nicole Hughes began Belmont's day with an RBI single up the middle in the first inning.
Following a scoreless second frame, Drake saw its deficit increase as Belmont plated a pair of runs in the third. Hughes did more damage with another RBI single and Emily Cockrill repeated Hughes with an RBI base knock of her own to make it a 3-0 ballgame.
Belmont tacked on another run in the fourth off an RBI single from Emma Barnes. Meanwhile, the Bulldog bats continued to be quiet with only two hits in the contest.
With the Bulldogs down to their final at-bats in the seventh, some offense finally got going. Freshman
Emily Veschak led off the frame with a single and moved up to second moments later off a wild pitch. Fellow freshman
Ava Curry then cut the deficit in half with one swing of the bat, launching a two-run shot to right center.
It was too little too late for Drake, however, as the rally ended with three consecutive outs to close the game.
Curry's home run marked the first of her career.
Tatum Aragon,
Frankie Rita, and
Natalee Watts also recorded base hits in the game for Drake.
In the circle,
Peyton Driscoll was credited with the loss after 3.2 innings of work with four earned runs allowed on seven hits and three strikeouts.
Paige Bedsworth made a relief appearance and finished with a final line of 2.1 innings, two hits, zero runs, and one strikeout.
Belmont 4, Drake 0
Game two was a true pitchers duel between
Molly Hoekstra of Drake and Maya Johnson of Belmont.
The dueling arms had their stuff working and kept the offense to a minimum. Through four innings of play, the game was tied at 0-0 with five total hits in the game. Belmont had four, Drake just one.
At that point in the contest, Johnson had racked up nine strikeouts with her one hit allowed coming against her counterpart in Hoekstra. Hoekstra had tallied three strikeouts, comparatively.
The scoreless tie was eventually broken in the fifth inning by Belmont. The Bruins continued to play small ball and Emma Barnes delivered with an RBI single to put Belmont ahead.
Belmont added to its lead in the sixth with three insurance runs, which pushed the final score to 4-0.
Due to expected heavy rain in the Nashville area Friday night through Saturday, the series finale between Drake and Belmont will take place on Sunday, March 16. First pitch is slated for noon CT and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
