CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Drake softball team broke through in the fifth inning to secure a 5-1 season-opening win over Iowa State at the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Tournament on Friday (Feb. 10).
The Bulldogs put runners on base but could not push a run across in the first four innings of the contest.
Mackenzie Hupke answered the bell in the circle and did not allow a hit until a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth. With a runner in scoring position with two outs, Hupke struck out Ashley Minor to end the frame.
Drake loaded the bases in the top of the fifth following back-to-back singles by
Emily Valtman and Makayla Rice before
Delaney Taylor reached on an error. After Valtman was out at home on a fielder's choice,
Emma Dighton rolled it into a hole to bring two runs across on another fielder's choice.
After a leadoff single by the Cyclones,
Emma Dighton entered the circle in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 2-0 lead.
Three insurance runs were tacked on in the top of the seventh inning. Rice led off the seventh with a ground-rule double and moved over to third on a groundout by Taylor.
Sami Miller reached on a fielder's choice to bring Rice around for a 3-0 advantage.
Dighton stepped up to the plate next to help her own cause with a two-run homer, her first as a Drake Bulldog.
Up 5-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Dighton surrendered one run on a one-out RBI single up the middle by Milaysia Ochoa. Dighton rebounded in the circle with a swinging strikeout and a popup to close out the season-opening victory.
Rice was 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and scored a pair of runs.
Aubree Beitzinger finished 2-for-3 and Dighton was 1-for-4 with 4 RBI highlighted by the two-run long ball. Getting the start behind the dish,
Skylar Rigby was 2-for-4 at the plate.
Hupke earned the win with four scoreless innings of work only allowing two hits with three strikeouts. Dighton pitched the remaining three innings allowing one run on two hits with a strikeout.
Drake softball returns to the UNI-Dome on Saturday, Feb. 11 for a 10 a.m. first pitch against Omaha and a 3 p.m. rematch with Iowa State.
