April 12, 2005

DES MOINES, Iowa - The UMKC softball team was swept by Drake in a non-conference doubleheader at Buel Field here Tuesday (April 12), 13-0 and 5-0. In the first game, the Kangaroos surrendered 10 runs in the second inning on the way to the shutout, while two runs in the fifth inning of game two proved to be the difference.

UMKC, now 6-32 overall, allowed two runs in the first inning of game one. Drake scored on a steal of home by Jenna Wilkin and a run-scoring single by Shanna Cook. Drake (17-15) wasn't done yet as it scored 10 times in the second frame on eight hits and three Kangaroos errors, and plated another run in the third inning.

UMKC's lone hit in the contest came in the fourth inning as senior first baseman Veronica Weaver doubled to center field.

Drake starting pitcher Kristin Birocci was the winner, going three innings and not allowing a hit to earn her sixth victory of the season. Sophomore Tisha Abell went the distance for the Kangaroos, allowing 15 hits in four innings to absorb her 12th loss of the campaign.

In the nightcap, Drake again drew first blood as first baseman Marilyn Buss led off the fifth inning with a home run off Tisha Abell to give the Bulldogs the only run they would need in a 5-0 whitewash. The Bulldogs plated three more runs in the sixth inning by hitting two more home runs off Abell.

Birocci was again the victor for Drake allowing two hits (singles in the third by Casie Wolf and Liz Stohs in the seventh) and striking out seven batters to earn her seventh win of the season. Abell tossed six innings for the Kangaroos, allowing 10 hits on the way to being tagged with her 13th defeat of the year.

The Kangaroos return to Mid-Continent Conference play on Fri., April 15 as they travel to Shreveport, La., to face Centenary in the first two games of a four-game weekend series. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 4 p.m. CDT.