DES MOINES, Iowa – Indiana State softball split their Friday doubleheader with the Drke Bulldogs, winning 6-5 in eight innings in game one and falling 2-1 in the second game.
 
Game 1: Indiana State 6, Drake 5 (8 innings)
The Bulldogs led off the bottom of the first with a single, but after two outs the runner scored on a double to deep center. The Sycamores turned around and put two on base in the second inning with a walk from Brailey Mills and a single up the middle by Peyton Simmons. The two would be left stranded followed by Hailey Griffin retiring the side in order, leaving the Bulldogs ahead 1-0.
 
Madison Poulson and Morgan Goodrich led off the innings with singles for Sophie Esposito to sacrifice bunt them both into scoring position. Livi Colip sent a grounder up the middle to score Poulson, and Hannah Welch forced a fielder's choice driving in Goodrich. Indiana State went up 2-1 after two-and-a-half innings.
 
Simmons walked to lead off the fourth and Lauren Marsicek found the outfield grass for a single. Poulson recorded her second hit of the game, a ball up the middle that skated by the center fielder to score both Simmons and Marsicek. The Sycamores entered the bottom of the fourth ahead 4-1.
 
A drake home run in the bottom of the fifth brought the Bulldogs back within a run, 4-3. Solid defense ended the inning, saving the Sycamore lead – Griffin bounced back with a three-pitch looking strikeout the next batter after the homer, then Goodrich tracked down a hard-hit ball down the line with a running catch to end the inning.
 
With Thatcher (running for Luci Kapelka), Goodrich on third base, and two outs, Esposito beat out an infield single to the hole between short and third to score Goodrich, increasing the Sycamore lead to 5-3.
 
Drake brought it back within a run, 5-4, with another homer causing a pitching change, as Cassi Newbanks entered the circle.
 
A leadoff pinch-hit home run tied the game at 5-5, but Newbanks got out of the inning sending the game into extras.
 
Kapelka sent a shot over the centerfield wall to lead off the top of the eighth, giving Indiana State the 6-5 with her second homer of the year.
 
Newbanks fanned her first batter of the eighth, and the next two reached safely before Newbanks struck out her second of the inning sending Indiana State to the 6-5 victory.
 
Griffin went 5.2 innings with six hits, four runs (all earned), five punch outs, and a walk. Newbanks earned the win (4-4) tossing 2.1 innings with a pair of hits, an earned run, and three strikeouts.
 
Goodrich tallied three hits for her fourth multi-hit game of the season. Poulson and Marsicek each recorded a pair of hits, and Kapelka hit her fourth career home run.
 
 
Game 2: Indiana State 6, Drake 5 (8 innings)
After a scoreless top of the first by the Sycamores, the Bulldogs threatened getting the bases loaded with one out. Lauren Sackett got out of the jam striking out the final two batters of the inning.
 
The second inning defensively for Indiana State was oddly similar to the first. Drake got runners on first and second with one out, but Sackett and her defense held the Bulldogs at bay to keep the game knotted at zero through two.
 
Pitching and defense held the game scoreless all the way through the fifth inning. Peyton Simmons reached safely with a single up the middle, joining Sophie Esposito as the only Sycamores recording a hit through the first five innings. For the Sycamores, Sackett fanned nine through five with three hits compared to the opposition with four punch outs.
 
The game was finally broken open by Drake in the bottom of the sixth from a throwing error by the Sycamores. Later in the inning, a hard-hit ball between the first and second basemen allowed a second Bulldog to score. Sackett recorded her 10th strikeout of the game as Drake took a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning.
 
The Sycamores fought back in their half of the seventh. Brailey Mills singled to open the frame, with Simmons singling through the left side just after. Hannah Welch sent a rope up the middle, scoring Mills from second and moving Simmons to third.
 
The next batter hit a grounder to shortstop, who made a perfect throw to the plate to keep the Sycamores at one run. Drake forced the next Sycamore batter to ground out back to the pitcher, halting the chance of a Sycamore comeback. Drake secured the 2-1 victory.
 
Sackett (1-9) punched out 10, one shy of tying her career high, in 6.0 innings giving up five hits with two runs (both unearned). Her ERA lowered to 2.71 on the season. Simmons finished with a two-hit game, with Esposito, Mills, and Welch recording the only other hits.
 
Up Next
Indiana State and Drake return tomorrow for the rubber game, currently scheduled for noon ET from Iowa.
 
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