Pitching is the name of the game in softball and it is why Drake has a share of the Missouri Valley Conference lead heading into a weekend series against Loyola of Chicago. The Bulldogs have a team earned run average of 2.85.

“Good pitching usually beats good hitting every time,” Drake coach Rich Calvert says. He has been rotating senior pitcher Rebekah Schmidt with freshman Nicole Newman. He says in a 3-game series usually Schmidt usually pitches games 1 and 3, and Newman game 2.

Calvert hopes consistent pitching can help the Bulldogs avoid the bad weekends that can take a team out of the hunt. He says Southern Illinois was 6-0 and then got swept by UNI, so he says it can happen, but he likes the way his pitchers are throwing right now.

The teams play a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday.