The Basics
The Bulldogs remain on the road as they head down I-35 for the Kansas City Roos Invitational this weekend. Drake will play five games between March 7-9 taking on host school Kansas City and St. Thomas (MN).
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Last weekend, the Bulldogs played five games against Kansas City, Tulsa, and No. 15 Oklahoma State while in the Sooner State going 2-3 in those contests. Drake holds an overall record of 4-10 coming into its tournament this weekend.
Frankie Rita leads the Bulldogs in hitting with a batting average of .426. Freshman
Ava Curry is also off to a strong start in her collegiate career hitting .423.
In the circle,
Paige Bedsworth leads the team with an ERA of 2.83 over 17.1 innings of work.
Molly Hoekstra paces the Bulldogs in strikeouts racking up 20 coming into the weekend.
Scouting the Competition
Drake kicks off its weekend taking on a familiar foe in Kansas City on Friday. Last weekend while in Tulsa, the Bulldogs faced off against the Roos and came away with a 6-3 victory. Drake and Kansas City will also go up against each other in one game on Sunday.
Kansas City opened up its 2025 campaign dropping its first 10 games, but has since picked up two wins over East Texas A&M to end the winless drought. The Roos come into the weekend with an overall record of 2-13.
Gianna Lickel has surged onto the scene for the Roos and leads the team in hitting despite making only six starts with 13 appearances. She posts an average of .400 with one double and three RBI. On the pitching side, Maddy Duvall has a record of 1-4 over her 10 appearances, five of which have been starts. The freshman has tallied 13 strikeouts in 29.0 innings of work.
With the win last weekend, the Bulldogs improved their lead in the all-time series with the Roos to 10-7. Drake is on a three-game winning streak over Kansas City as it won both neutral site matchups last season.
Drake's other opponent while in Kanas City will be the St. Thomas Tommies from Minnesota. The Bulldogs and the Tommies will play three times with a doubleheader on Saturday and a single contest on Sunday.
St. Thomas is currently on a six-game win streak and is coming off an undefeated weekend at the Gopher Indoor Classic taking down Miami-Ohio, Wagner, and Minnesota. Overall, the Tommies are 11-7 on the year.
The top bat for the Tommies in the early stages of the season has been Ella Cook who is slashing .412/.706/.500 with six doubles, three home runs, and 17 RBI. Cook also posts the best ERA from the circle for St. Thomas at 3.52. Meanwhile, Ava Kleinfeldt boasts a record of 4-0 over eight appearances (five starts) with 26 strikeouts compared to six walks.
Drake and St. Thomas have matched up just one time previously with the Bulldogs taking the win in 2023 by a score of 14-5.
Up Next
Drake will play its first midweek games of the season with a doubleheader at Creighton on Tuesday, March 11. The Bulldogs then travel to Nashville for its Missouri Valley Conference opener against Belmont, March 14-16.
