CHICAGO, Ill. – The Drake softball team was back on the road again this weekend for a conference series against the UIC Flames and began with a doubleheader on Friday afternoon. The Bulldogs fell in both contests dropping game one, 6-2, and game two, 5-3.
UIC 6, Drake 2
Drake was the first on the board in game one of the day as
Frankie Rita led off the game with a base knock. The junior eventually moved over to third base and was brought home off an RBI groundout by
Tatum Aragon.
The lead was relinquished in the home half of the first, however, with UIC putting up two runs. The Flames scored used a sacrifice fly for their first run followed by an RBI single a couple batters later.
The Flames pushed their lead to 3-1 in the third with another RBI base knock, but the Bulldogs remained within striking distance. The small ball scoring continued with a sac fly from Drake's
Haley Schroeder in the fifth, which cut it down to a one-run ballgame.
Once again, UIC responded and added some insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth to put the game away. Another RBI single put UIC's lead back up to two runs, but it was a two-run home run from Ari O'Connell for the final runs of the contest.
The Bulldogs out-hit the Flames in the contest, 11-9, and were led by
Pearson Hall who went for three hits in the game. Starting pitcher
Jayme Scheck suffered the loss and finished with a final line of 4.2 innings pitched, eight hits, six earned runs, and two strikeouts.
UIC 5, Drake 3
The Flames were out in front early in game two as they posted a two-run inning in the bottom of the first. Just like in game one, UIC took advantage of getting runners on base and used small ball tactics to bring them around to score. The two runs from the Flames that gave them the lead this go around were once again due to an RBI groundout and a sac fly.
The game went scoreless over the next three innings until UIC added a run in the fourth to make a 3-0 contest. O'Connell stay hot at the plate following her home run from game one and knocked in a run with a base hit to left field.
Drake's offense eventually got the big hit it was looking for in the fifth and it was back to a new ballgame.
Lili Gonzalez stepped into the batter's box with two runners on and cracked her first-career long ball, a three-run shot, tying the game up at 3-3.
The Bulldogs found themselves in trouble, however, when the frame flipped to the home side. UIC regained its lead right back and plated a pair off a Larissa Ortiz single making the score now 5-3.
With just two chances remaining to either tie the game back up or take the lead, the Bulldog bats fell silent and managed just one hit over the final two innings leading to the second loss of the day.
Drake managed eight hits in game two and got multi-hit performances out of Gonzalez and
Pearson Hall but also left eight runners on base.
The Bulldogs and Flames will close out the series with a single contest tomorrow afternoon. First pitch from Flames Field is slated for 2 p.m.
