Shocker SB at Drake

[flyingMoose]

The Shockers continue their Valley schedule with a series at conference-leading Drake on Saturday and Sunday, games starting at noon each day. A DH is on Saturday with a single game on Sunday.

Drake has a record of 12-4 in the Valley with the Shockers and Northern Iowa tied for second at 11-5. Those three teams have separated themselves from the rest of the league, Bradley being two and one-half games back. Drake has lost their last four Valley games, the last two of their series with Missouri State and their mid-week DH at Northern Iowa. Their overall record is 24-18.

Drake's Nicole Newman has twice been Pitcher of the Week. She has an ERA of 1.81 and a WHIP of 1.05 in conference play. Mariah McKinnon has the other third of the starts with an ERA of 4.20 and a WHIP of 1.67.

Kennedy Frank has an OPS of 1.180 and has been Newcomer of the Week three times. Other offensive standouts are Megan Sowa (1.096 and four home runs) and Tayn Pena (1.090).

For the Shocks, Jenni has an ERA of 3.60 and a WHIP of 1.50, and Katie's numbers are 5.50 and 1.75. Kelsey, with fewer innings, has an ERA of 3.91 and a WHIP of 1.74.

Macklin now has an OPS of 1.317 with five home runs. The hit parade continues with PaigeL (1.219 and five homers), Cacy (1.206 and six home runs), Brittany (1.119) and Liz (1.039).


After this weekend, the Shockers complete their conference schedule by playing Missouri State in a mid-week game, traveling to Indiana State and hosting Southern Illinois.

[flyingMoose]

Game One

Jenni has the start for the Shocks and Newman for Drake. Kelli is back at second after Mauriana got the one start in Springfield. The rest of the starters are the same as lately.

Free streaming video is here.

Brittany lead off the first with a homer. Drake responded in the bottom of the first with a walk and two singles to tie the game.

In the Shocker third, a PaigeL single is followed by a two-run shot by Cacy. The Shocks lead 3-1 after four complete.

The Shocker floodgates opened in the fifth. Walks to PaigeL and Cacy and a single by Liz loaded the bases. Laurie Anne scored two with her double. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Brittany doubled home two runs and Newman was taken out of the game. Although she had eight strikeouts in her 4.2 innings, she also gave up eight hits and seven walks for seven earned runs. An error and walk loaded the bases again and PaigeL drove in the last two runs of the six with a single.

Jenni gave up a double in the bottom of the fifth, but Drake did not score, ending the game by the runs-ahead rule.

Shockers 9-1(5) Drake


Jenni gave up four hits and three walks along with the run for the win. Her record is now 14-6.

Brittany, PaigeL and Liz all had two hits among the nine hits by the Shocks. The extra-base hits belonged to Brittany (homer and double), Cacy (homer) and LA (double). Brittany had three RBI and PaigeL, Cacy and LA all had two.

[flyingMoose]

Game Two

Katie has the start in this one with Mauriana getting the start at second. (Kelli was hitless with a strikeout in two at-bats along with a walk in the first game.)

The Shocks struck in the top of the first with a single by Macklin and a two-run blast by PaigeL.

They tacked on three more runs in the third. Brittany singled, stole second and scored on a MackenzieW double. Macklin doubled her home and after a passed ball, scored on a sac fly by Cacy. Shockers lead 5-0 after three.

In the fourth, LA opened the Shocker half with a double. After two outs, Brittany stroked a run-scoring double. Three consecutive walks pushed Brittany home for the second run of the inning.

The Shocks finished their scoring with two more runs in the seventh. PaigeL opened with a walk and two outs later, LA reached on an error. Singles by Mauriana and Ashley each scored a run. Drake opened the last with two singles, but Katie barred the door, and Drake did not score, the game ending with a strike out.

Shockers 9-0 Drake


Brittany, Macklin and LA each had two hits of the Shocker eleven. Both of the hits by LA were doubles and Brittany, MackenzieW and Mackling also had doubles. PaigeL had three RBI.

Katie ran her record to 10-6 with the shutout win. She gave up six hits and two walks, striking out five. I don't have any history, but in this game there were six ground outs and ten fly outs, possibly the best you would expect from Katie. This is the kind of game we need to see a lot more of from Katie for the Shockers to make it to post-season play.


These results put the Shockers in first place along with Northern Iowa who swept Missouri State.

[1972Shocker]

Not totally surprising to see the Shocks put up 18 runs but really, really nice to see the solid back-to-back games by Jenni and Katie. That is 2 good outings in a row for Kaite so hopefully she is getting some things figured out.

[WuDrWu]

A win tomorrow and a sweep of the Geese would go a long way in securing a much prized top 2 seed for the Shocks.

#1 and #2 get the double bye to the semis in the Valley tourney. A great way to get into the NCAAs is to only have to have a 2 game winning streak to get there.

[flyingMoose]

Game Three

Katie has the start in the circle after her shutout win of yesterday, and Mauriana is at second again.

Drake scored first today in the bottom of the first. A walk, single and fielder's choice put runners at the corners for the Bulldogs. After a steal of second and a strike out for the second out, a single delivered two runs.

The Shocks scored four in the top of the third to take the lead. Ashley tripled and scored on a single by Brittany. Followng a sac bunt, a walk to PaigeL, her stolen base and an intentional walk to Cacy loaded the bases. A wild pitch scored a run, and an infield single by Liz scored another. Cacy scored the fourth run of the inning on the front end of a double steal.

In the bottom half, Drake tied the score. The Bulldogs opened with a single followed by a force out at second. At this point, Kelli subbed in for Mauriana, so I assume there may have been an injury. Another single to put two runners on brought Jenni on in relief. A walk loaded the bases and an infield single and a ground out each scored a run. Tied at 4-4 after three complete.

In the Drake fourth, they loaded the bases with one out before lining into a double play.

Brittany opened the Shocker seventh with a walk and was advanced on a sac bunt. After a pop out, Cacy was walked intentionally again. Liz made the strategy backfire with a three-run homer down the left field line. Jenni sat the Bulldogs down in order, and the Shockers completed the three-game sweep of the series.

Shockers 7-4 Drake


Jenni gave up two hits and four walks in 4.2 innings of relief to move her record to 15-6.

Liz had three hits including the game-winning home run and four RBI. Among the ten hits by the Shocks, Brittany and Cacy had two apiece.


Missouri State scored a run in the top of the seventh (after being ahead 6-1 earlier) to defeat Northern Iowa by a score of 9-8. The Shockers are now alone in first place with a one-game lead over Northern Iowa and a two-game lead over Drake. They have a three-game lead over Southern Illinois whom they host the last weekend of the regular season. The Shocks own the tiebreaker over Drake but not over Northern Iowa. To @WuDrWu's point from yesterday, the path to a #1 or #2 seed is not guaranteed, but seems likely.

[shoxlax]

Impressive weekend ladies!