WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State softball team defeated Drake for the eighth straight game, and swept the first weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play, defeating the Bulldogs by a score of 8-4 on day two.
 
Katie Malone got her second start of the weekend and threw all seven innings allowing four runs, but none of those runs were earned. Malone collected her 13^th win of the year and her third of the weekend.
 
The Shockers collected 13 hits in the game and three of those hits came from Laurie Derrico, who also drove in three runs on the day. Mackenzie Wright, McKenzie Adams, Kelli Spring and Mauriana Jamele all also had multi-hit games. The bottom half of the Shocker lineup combined for 6 hits and four RBI.
 
Wichita State jumped on the Bulldogs early, with Wright leading the bottom of the first off with a double. After a sacrifice bunt from Spring and a single from Derrico, the Shockers took an early 1-0 lead.
 
In the second inning, Jamele hit a one-out single to get things started. Ashley Johnson then tripled to score a run. Adams then followed Johnson with a double and added to the Shockers lead, making it, 3-0.
 
In the third, the Bulldogs began to fight back, scoring two runs on just one hit to cut the lead to 3-2.
 
With one out in the fourth inning, Paige Luellen hit her sixth home run of the year pushing the lead back to two, 4-2.
 
Drake then fired back, scoring two runs of their own on two errors to tie the game at four.
 
Wichita State then put the game out of reach, scoring two runs in the fifth on singles from Wright, Spring and Derrico and an error from the Bulldog defense. In the sixth, the Shockers added to their lead, scoring Wright and Spring after collecting back-to-back singles.
 
The Shockers then allowed two baserunners in the top of the seventh, but a foul-out to Jamele ended the game, giving Wichita State the 8-4 win.
 
The Shockers are now 15-10 on the season and are 3-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Shockers will be in action again tomorrow as they host Nebraska for a single game, beginning at 5 p.m.

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