DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake softball teams regular season came to an end on Sunday afternoon as they suffered a loss to the Missouri State Bears on Senior Day from Ron Buel Field by a score of 5-2.
 
Drake and Missouri State started off the contest matching each other on the scoreboard with each side plating a run in their half of the first inning. The Bears struck first with an RBI double, but the Bulldogs countered on an RBI base knock from senior Carey Koenig to tie the game at 1-1.
 
In the second inning, Drake jumped in front of Missouri State to take its first lead in the entire series. With two outs and nobody on, Sam Tourtillott found a pitch to her liking and sent it over the left field wall for a solo home run. The long ball from the junior marked her second of the season.
 
After scoreless frames in the third and fourth, Missouri State battled back to take the lead away from the Bulldogs in the fifth. The Bears plated four runs in the inning, which began with a solo homer from Kenzie Derryberry. An RBI single scored the second run of the inning for MSU followed by another single compounded by a Drake fielding error, which allowed a pair of runs to score making it a 5-2 ballgame.
 
The Drake offense tried their best to make a comeback, and even tallied more hits than Missouri State in the game at 9-8, but the Bulldogs couldn't bring any more runs across the plate against the pitching duo of Mackenzie Chacon and McKenzie Vaughan.
 
The Bulldogs threatened to make a rally in the bottom of the seventh placing runners on the corners after a pinch hit double by Logan Kelley and a drawn walk from Ava Curry, but ended the game on a strikeout.
 
Nine different players recorded a hit for Drake on the afternoon. Kelley and Tourtillott recorded the two extra-base hits for Drake. Molly Hoekstra suffered the loss in the circle after making a relief appearance for starter Paige Bedsworth.
 
The Bulldogs will now look forward to the MVC Championship being held at Ron Buel Field, May 7-10. Drake will be either the No. 8 or No. 9 seed and will play Murray State at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 7.