WICHITA, Kan.-  Sophomore Danika Miller hit a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to hand the Drake Bulldogs their first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season.

The Shockers hit two home runs and scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the score at 6-6 and force extra innings. Miller then hit her first home run of her career in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Shockers to a 9-6 win.

Wichita State improves to 10-27 overall and 3-7 in Missouri Valley Conference play. Drake falls to 22-13 on the year and 9-1 in the MVC.

Senior Jamie Hull picked up her first win of the season in the circle for the Shockers. She went 3.0 innings and gave up just two runs on four hits. Brynne Dordel falls to 10-8 on the season as she claims the loss for the Bulldogs. She went 7.2 innings and gave up nine runs on seven hits.

Wichita State had just two hits on the game going into the seventh inning, but was able to pick up an additional five hits in the seventh and eighth innings. Seven different Shockers finished the game with one hit. Danika Miller was 1-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and a run scored. Kiersten Dixon was 1-for-2 with a home run, two RBI, and two runs scored. Heather Gerritse was 1-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, and a run scored.

Hayley Temple, Sammie Shook,and Rachel Milnark each picked up one hit in the game. Brittney Osborn scored two runs as she drew two walks.

The Shockers reached the scoreboard first scoring one run on one hit and two errors in the bottom of the first inning. Kiersten Dixon drew a one-out walk to start things off for Wichita State. Jamie Hull moved her over to second base as she reached on an error by the shortstop. Heather Gerritse moved Dixon over to third as she reached on a fielder's choice. Hayley Temple picked up the RBI of the inning with a single to right center.

Drake tied things up, 1-1, by scoring one run on a hit in the top of the second inning. The Shockers reclaimed the lead, 2-1, scoring one run on one hit and an error in the bottom of the inning. Rachel Milnark led off the inning for the Shockers with a single to right-field. Holly Eckert moved her over to second base with a sacrifice bunt. Brittney Osborn forced Drake's first baseman into an error, which allowed Milnark to come around and score.

Drake scored two runs on three hits in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead over the Shockers. Lindsey Vande Wall started things off with a solo home run to left-field. The Bulldogs scored an additional run by hitting back-to-back doubles to claim the 3-2 lead after four innings of play.

The Bulldogs scored three runs on five hits in two innings to claim a 6-2 lead over the Shockers. Wichita State hit two home runs and scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game at 6-6 and force extra innings. Kiersten Dixon hit her fifth home run of the season and 18^th of her career to score Osborn and make it a 6-4 game. Hull doubled to left center and then Heather Gerritse hit her third home run of the season and 13^th of her career to tie the game at 6-6.

Danika Miller hit her first home run of her career in high fashion as she hit a three-run walk-off blast to lead the Shockers to a 9-6 victory in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Drake and Wichita State return to action on Sunday to wrap up the three-game series. The final game of the series is set for 12:00 p.m.

 

 

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WICHITA, Kan.-The Wichita State softball team dropped the first game of a doubleheader, 8-3, to league-leading Drake in Wichita, Kan. Saturday afternoon.

Drake (22-12, 9-0) and Wichita State (9-27, 2-7) joined forces in the fight against breast cancer as the Shockers' hosted their fourth annual Strikeout Breast Cancer event at Wilkins Stadium.

The Bulldogs scored four runs in the third inning to take a commanding lead, and WSU just wasn't able to recover.

Hayley Temple led the Shockers as she went 1-for-2 at the plate with two RBI. Sammie Shook was 1-for-3 with a solo home run. Jamie Hull was 1-for-4 on the day and scored two runs.

Sloan Anderson got the start in the circle for the Shockers and fell to 2-6 on the season with the loss. It was just her second conference loss on the year. Anderson went 4.0 innings and gave up seven runs on eight hits. She also recorded two strikeouts.

Jenna DeLong picked up the win in the circle and improved to 12-4 on the season. She went 7.0 innings and gave up just three runs on five hits.

Drake's offense was led by Torey Craddock. She went 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI and scored two runs.

Drake jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a solo home run from Torey Craddock. Wichita State answered in the bottom of the inning tying the score at 1-1. Jamie Hull started things off for the Shockers with two outs in the inning. Hull singled to right center and Heather Gerritse moved her to third with a single down the left-field line. Hayley Temple battled starting pitcher, Jenna DeLong, to a full count before she drew a walk. Hull came home to score on the wild pitch to tie up the game.

The Bulldogs took a 5-1 lead in the top of the third inning by scoring four runs on four hits and one error. The inning was highlighted by a double to left center from Craddock which scored a run. Wichita State was able to get a run back in the bottom of the inning as they scored one run on two hits and one error. Hull reached first on an error by the first baseman and advanced to second on an illegal pitch. Temple picked up her second RBI of the game as she scored Hull with a single to the right side of the infield. Drake took a 5-2 lead after three innings of play.

DU made it a 6-2 game in the top of the fourth inning by scoring one run on two hits. Back-to-back doubles from DeLong and Amy Pierce scored the Bulldog run. Drake scored runs in the fifth and sixth inning to take a 8-2 lead after six innings of play.

Sammie Shook made it an 8-3 game with a solo home run to left center in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was Shook's fourth of the season and seventh of her career.

The Bulldogs went on to win the game, 8-3.

-Wichita State-