VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Drake softball team returned to the diamond on Saturday afternoon to begin its weekend series with a doubleheader against Valparaiso. The Bulldogs came close in both contests, but suffered a pair of losses to the Beacons first by a score of 3-2 and then 6-5.
Valparaiso 3, Drake 2
It was a slow start in game one between the Bulldogs and the Beacons with no runs scored through the first three innings. Drake and Valpo were held in check offensively with each team only recording one hit over that span.
Starting pitchers
Paige Bedsworth and Azalya Lopez controlled the game from the pitching circle in different styles. Bedswoth relied on her defense and pitched to contact, while Lopez tallied three punchouts over the first three frames.
In the top of the fourth, the bats finally woke up for Drake.
Emma Dighton started the inning in a big way with a leadoff triple to put the Bulldogs in scoring position.
Sami Miller then stepped up to the plate and didn't waste any time putting Drake on the scoreboard. On the very next pitch after Dighton's triple, Miller took one over the right field fence for a two-run blast for her fifth homer of the season.
After a scoreless fifth inning, it was the Beacons' bats that got hot in the sixth. Valpo strung together four singles and a sacrifice fly, which pushed across three runs to put the Beacons out in front, 3-2.
Down to their last at-bats, the Bulldogs were set down in order to end the game.
The Bulldogs only tallied three hits in the contest and two came from the bat of Miller. Bedsworth suffered just her second loss of the season and finished with a final line of 5.1 innings, four hits, three earned runs, four walks and one strikeout.
Valparaiso 6, Drake 5
In game two, Drake was out to an early lead again. In the top of the second, Dighton continued to swing her bat well as she shot a double in the gap to right center which drove in
Frankie Rita for the first run of the ballgame.
Drake's lead was short lived, however. Valparaiso countered in its half of the second with a three-spot to take the lead over the Bulldogs. The Beacons loaded up the bases following a double, an error, and a fielder's choice to put the Bulldogs in a jam and capitalized with another double down the left field line to score two runs. Another error from Drake moments later allowed the third run to cross home and make the score 3-1.
After the third and fourth frames went scoreless, Drake stormed back to reclaim its lead in the top of the fifth. Dighton started the rally with a base knock and scored on the next play following a double from Miller.
Tatum Aragon kept the action going as she launched a two-run homer over the right field wall, which put the Bulldogs ahead, 4-3.
Drake wasn't quite done doing damage in the fifth when
Heidi Wheeler came up to bat following two consecutive outs. The senior sent a deep fly ball to right field that went over the head of the Valpo outfielder and rolled all the way to the wall. Wheeler showcased her speed on the basepaths and made it all the way back home sliding in safely for an inside the park home run.
When the inning turned over to the home half of the fifth, Drake once again saw its lead slip away. A three-run home run for the Beacons erased the Bulldog advantage and flipped the score to 6-5.
The Bulldogs eventually fell by that final score of 6-5 with the offense producing just one hit over the sixth and seventh innings.
Drake outhit Valpo by a mark of nine to six despite the result and was led by Dighton who went 3-for-3 with an RBI double. Aragon also had a multi-hit outing with a homer and two RBI.
Molly Hoekstra took the loss and had a final line of 5.1 innings, six hits, six runs (three earned), one walk, and no strikeouts.
The Bulldogs and the Beacons will close out the series tomorrow afternoon with first pitch slated for noon.
