The Basics
The Drake softball team returns to the diamond this weekend with a road series against the Bradley Braves. The Bulldogs will play three games in three days as they look to pick up their first conference win of the season.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Drake had a full schedule last week playing five games against Creighton and Belmont. The Bulldogs went 1-4 in that span splitting the doubleheader with the Bluejays, but were swept by the Bruins. Drake comes into its series with Bradley with a 7-17 overall record.
Freshman
Ava Curry continues the strong start to her collegiate career and leads Drake in hitting with a .370 batting average. Last weekend against Belmont, Curry hit her first-career home run. In terms of homers,
Emma Dighton leads the squad with five long balls this season. The senior also ranks first on Drake with 15 RBI and a slugging percentage of .652
Molly Hoekstra has been the main arm in the circle for the Bulldogs tallying 52.1 innings of work over 15 appearances with seven starts. Hoekstra owns an ERA of 4.28 and leads the pitching staff with 33 strikeouts.
Paige Bedsworth posts a record of 2-1 over her 12 appearances and has an ERA of 1.69.
Scouting Bradley
The Braves are coming off a midweek victory over Western Illinois on Tuesday and own an overall record of 12-15. Bradley had its first MVC series last weekend on the road at Murray State and went 2-1 against the Racers. The series against the Bulldogs will be the first home contests of the season for the Braves.
Kierston McCoy provides some pop at the plate for the Braves slashing .313/.550/.368. She leads Bradley in nearly every hitting category including doubles (7), home runs (4), and RBI (17).
In the circle, Sydney Kennedy is the ace arm for the Braves racking up 86.2 innings of work in 16 appearances. She has seven complete games this season and owns an ERA of 2.18. The senior is holding opponents to a hitting clip of .226 and has tallied 63 strikeouts on the year.
Up Next
Drake will take a quick pause in conference play with a midweek road game at Western Illinois on Tuesday, March 25, and then will host Indiana State over the weekend for a three game series, March 28-30.
