NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Drake softball team took on the Missouri Valley Conference leaders, the Belmont Bruins, on Thursday afternoon with a doubleheader from E.S. Rose Park and lost both contests. The series was pushed up a day due to forecasted showers in the Nashville area on Saturday.
Belmont 6, Drake 0
The Bulldogs were faced with a tough task in the first game of the day going up against one of the best pitchers in the country, Maya Johnson. Belmont's ace had her stuff working from the circle and held Drake hitless for the day.
Johnson recorded 15 strikeouts in her outing against the Bulldogs, but did not record a perfect game. Drake's lone base runner of the game came in the seventh inning when
Frankie Rita drew a walk to negate the perfect game.
Belmont took the lead in the second inning and that was all that Johnson and the Bruins needed to secure the win. The Bruins hung a three-spot in the frame due to a bases loaded walk followed by a double.
A two-run home run by the Bruins in the fifth made it a 5-0 ballgame and the last run of the game was scored in the sixth off a groundout.
Belmont 11, Drake 3
The Bulldogs looked to bounce back in the second game with Johnson not in the circle, and they did hold the lead at one point, but an avalanche of runs from the Bruins eventually led to a run-rule loss.
After the first two innings went scoreless, Drake was first on the board in the top of the third.
Emily Veschak started the inning with a double off the left field wall to get the Bulldogs offense going and later scored from a base knock by Rita. A couple batters later,
Ava Husak smacked a double of her own into left center, which scored Rita and
Kiley Kindelspire, who got on base prior to Husak's at-bat with a walk.
Drake took a 3-0 lead into the home half of the third, but that would be all for the Bulldogs as Belmont responded with a crooked number of nine runs in its half of the frame.
The Bruins scored their first run following their third single of the inning, but a three-run homer by Nicole Hughes put them in front, 4-3. From there Belmont used two more RBI singles, one of which brought in two runs, and a two-RBI double which extended its lead to 9-3.
The final runs of the game were scored in the fifth inning. Lauren Luciani hit a solo home run to begin the frame for the Bruins and after a single and stolen base, Lydia Vanderwoude tallied a hard-hit RBI single to close out the contest.
Drake and Belmont will conclude the series with a single game tomorrow afternoon with first pitch from E.S. Rose Park scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
