JUNIOR JENNA DELONG earned honors from both the MVC and the Sleep Inn Classic this week. She was named pitcher of the week in the Valley and secured a spot on the all-tournament team. Photo: Sarah Andrews
Drake softball Head Coach Rich Calvert is looking at the big picture rather than soaking in the spotlight. After a scorching Sleep Inn Classic in which the Bulldogs accumulated a 4-0 weekend to move to 6-3 on the season, Calvert said there is still a lot of work to do.
“I’m pleased with the progress, but we have to get better in some areas,” he said.
Drake was led by terrific pitching at the tournament in Denton, Texas. Junior Jenna DeLong threw 10 shutout innings and struck out 19 in two wins on Friday, then followed up with a five-hit, 14 strikeout shutout in a win over Sam Houston State. For her efforts, DeLong was named the Missouri Valley Pitcher of the Week. Her final, eye-popping numbers on the weekend included a 2-0 record, 0.00 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched.
DeLong and freshman Lindsey Vande Wall were voted to the Sleep Inn Classic All-Tournament Team by participating coaches. Vande Wall led the offense by hitting .444 (4-9) with three runs scored, but turned heads with her fourth-inning grand slam against Colorado State on Saturday to push the Bulldogs from a 2-1 lead to 6-1 in a Drake win.
Despite the early success, Calvert wants his team to remain focused.
“We need to get better in a little bit of everything,” he said. “We have to improve (our) pitching, defensively, and especially our short game.”
Perhaps the biggest story of the weekend was the milestones set by senior infielder Elena Leon. Leon led off Saturday’s first game against Sam Houston State with a solo shot, which tied Katie Shimon’s all-time Drake home run mark at 25. The record was set in 2004. In the fourth inning against Colorado State, Leon took her 80th career base on balls. The free pass tied Susan Slycord’s all-time Drake mark set in 2008.
Calvert said that Leon would prefer winning to setting personal records.
“I think she’d be the first to say that she would prefer team to individual achievements,” Calvert said.
Thus far in the season, junior Erin Bly leads the Drake offense. She owns a .346 batting average while tying for the team lead in home runs with two. Leon also has two home runs on the season, while leading Drake with seven RBIs. Vande Wall is five-for-five on stolen base attempts.
DeLong and junior Brynne Dordel led the pitching staff. DeLong dropped her ERA to 1.75 after her successful weekend, and leads the Bulldogs with 36 innings pitched and 54 strikeouts. Dordel also pitched well at the Classic and has a 1.42 ERA over 24.2 innings pitched.
“Jenna (DeLong) and Brynne (Dordel) did a very nice job this weekend,” Calvert said. “Offensively we were able to come up with some timely hitting. The long ball was a difference for us this weekend.”
Drake is off next weekend but will travel to Fayetteville, Ark. to participate in the Razorback Invitational March 5-7.
“Next week will be a nice break, but were looking forward to going out and playing in a couple of weeks,” Calvert said. “We’ll work on some things to get better and we’ll be ready to go in a couple weeks.”
