CHICAGO, Ill. – The Drake softball team won its series finale over the UIC Flames on Saturday afternoon as the offense exploded for nine runs behind three home runs, while Ava Husak tossed a complete game from the pitcher's circle.
 
Drake's offense was ready to go early in the contest as the Bulldogs managed to score in each of the first three innings to go up 3-0. Pearson Hall brought in the first run of the day with a bunt single, but then Maia Bentley and Ava Curry supplied the power with a pair of solo shots in the second and third innings.
 
Meanwhile, Husak held the UIC bats in check over that span, but in the fourth inning the Flames finally got on the board. Ari O'Connell did the damage and cut the lead down to 3-2 with a two-RBI triple.
 
The Bulldogs responded, however, and were in control the rest of the way. In the fifth inning, Husak helped her own cause and smacked an RBI double, and Tatum Aragon followed in the next at-bat with a double of her own to return Drake's lead back to three runs at 5-2.
 
In the sixth is when the Bulldogs broke the game open with a four-run frame. Aragon drove in the first run, and her second of the day, off a fielders choice, but it was Anniston Reith that delivered the big swing. Reith was called in to pinch hit and proceeded to smoke a three-run blast to right field putting the game away.
 
Husak ended up going the distance from inside the pitching circle and finished with a final line of five hits, two earned runs, one walk, and one strikeout for her first win of the season. She also led the Bulldogs on offense with a two-hit outing, along with Curry and Aragon who also had two hits.
 
Drake will stay on the road for its next contest, a midweek test against Iowa State, on Wednesday, March 25. First pitch from Ames is scheduled for 4 p.m.