The Basics
The Drake softball team heads out to Arizona for its second tournament of the non-conference schedule with the Bear Down Fiesta, hosted by the University of Arizona, Feb. 12-14. The Bulldogs will play five games in three days against Arizona, Creighton, Coastal Carolina, and Utah Valley.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Last weekend, Drake opened its 2026 season at the Rosemont Dome Tournament and had a successful showing going 4-1 in its five games. The Bulldogs took home wins over Green Bay, Oakland, and Western Illinois with the only loss coming against Detroit in the first game of the season.
The Bulldogs offense racked up 32 runs last weekend and was led by freshman
Pearson Hall, who hit .421 (8-19) for the tournament with seven of her eight hits going for extra bases (five doubles, two triples). Another freshman,
Kiley Kindelspire, had a productive weekend in her first collegiate action hitting .389 (7-18) with a pair of doubles, a triple, a home run, and a team-leading seven RBI. Junior outfielder
Natalee Watts meanwhile provided a power surge with two homers, a double, and a triple leading to a slugging percentage of 1.300.
From the pitching circle, veteran
Jayme Scheck picked up two wins and held opponents in check with an ERA of 1.62 over 8.2 innings of work. Junior
Peyton Driscoll leads the team with seven strikeouts and tallied her first save of the season last weekend. Transfer
Ashlynn Sheets picked up the other two wins for Drake last weekend mainly being used in relief.
Scouting the Competition
Drake opens play at the Bear Down Fiesta with host institution Arizona on Thursday night. The Wildcats went 3-2 on opening weekend during the Candrea Classic with a pair of run-rule victories over Southern Utah and an upset win over then-No. 3 Oklahoma. Arizona is currently ranked No. 15 in the USA Softball/ESPN poll and was picked to finish third in the Big 12 Preseason Poll. The Wildcats hold a 16-1 all-time record in the Bear Down Fiesta. Last year, Arizona swept the Bear Down Fiesta.
Creighton went 2-3 in its opening weekend at the Bearkat Classic down in Huntsville, Texas winning its first two games of the season against Central Arkansas and Sam Houston before losing its next three. Creighton returns seven starters among 13 letterwinners from last season's team that posted a 30-25 record. The Bluejays were picked to finish second in the BIG EAST by the league coaches in 2026. The Bulldogs will face the Bluejays twice while in Arizona and then will host them again from Des Moines later in the season on April 8.
Coastal Carolina also has a record of 2-3 following its opening weekend performance at the Kickin' Chicken Classic, which it hosted. Coastal's pair of wins came against Akron while it suffered losses to Virginia and then-No. 8 Arkansas. The Chanticleers are coming off a historic season where they won their first-ever Sun Belt Conference Tournament Title and went 42-19 overall and 13-11 in the Sun Belt in 2025. Coastal was picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt preseason coaches' poll.
Utah Valley is coming off a 2-3 opening weekend at the UTEP/NMSU Tournament. The Wolverines picked up wins over UTEP and UMass Lowell, and fell to St. Thomas, NMSU, and the Miners. The Wolverines hit six homers, the second-most among WAC schools to begin the season, leading to 30 runs in its first action of the season. The Wolverines were picked to finish fourth in the WAC preseason poll this season after posting an overall record of 18-33 with a league mark of 8-15 a season ago.
Up Next
Drake will have a week off before its next tournament at the Mizzou Invitational, Feb. 27-March 1, from Columbia, Missouri.
