The Basics
The Drake softball team is slated to start conference play this weekend as they travel to Normal, Illinois for a series against the Illinois State Redbirds. The Bulldogs and Redbirds will begin with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon and close out the series with a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Drake concluded its non-conference tournament slate last weekend at the Colorado State Tournament and finished that portion of its schedule with a record of 6-13. Drake snapped an 11-game losing streak with a win over South Dakota State last weekend at the Colorado State Tournament, while the Bulldogs went 2-3 in the Rocky Mountain State with the other win coming over Colorado State in extra innings.
Drake's lineup currently boasts six players that are hitting over .300 on the season, led by
Frankie Rita with a batting average of .346. As a team, the Bulldogs are hitting at a clip of .287, which is tied for fourth in the MVC. The Bulldog pitching staff has a collective ERA of 6.21, which ranks eighth in the MVC and has tallied 43 strikeouts over 19 games.
Jayme Scheck leads the team with a 4.04 ERA and is holding opposing batters to a .291 average over 26.0 innings pitched.
Scouting Illinois State
The Redbirds come into the weekend with an overall record of 12-8 and carry a conference record of 2-1. Illinois State won its first conference series last weekend taking two of three contests against Evansville. In its last time out, Illinois State dropped a midweek contest to Iowa, 6-3, on Tuesday.
The Redbirds have seen fantastic production from freshman Morgan Calhoun to start the season. The reigning MVC Freshman of the Week, Calhoun leads the Redbirds and ranks fourth in the MVC with a .435 batting average, sits second in the league with 22 RBIs and is tied for the MVC freshman lead with four home runs. From the pitching circle, Illinois State mainly uses two arms in Paige McLeod and Hannah Meshnick. McLeod leads the team in every statistical category with a record of 7-3 and ERA of 2.42 in 63.2 innings. Meshnick, meanwhile, has gone 4-4 in 18 appearances and carries an ERA of 5.05 over 43.0 innings.
Illinois State leads the all-time series against Drake, 30-25. Last season the Bulldogs won the series against the Redbirds taking two of three games from Des Moines. Over the last 10 games the Bulldogs and Redbirds are an even 5-5. Drake is 9-10 all-time in games played from Normal.
Up Next
Drake will host Western Illinois for a midweek contest from Buel Field on Tuesday, March 17 with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.
