Story by Austin Cannon

Softball: Drake loses 8-0 at No. 4 Arizona State.

The Bulldog softball team ran into trouble early against Arizona State Thursday night.

Sophomore pitcher Mariah McKinnon exited after giving up three runs in the first inning, two more than the Sun Devils would need.

With the bases loaded, ASU’s Elizabeth Caporucsio smacked a double to right field, plating all three runs.

Rebekah Schmidt entered in relief, pitching four and two-thirds innings, allowing five runs on seven hits.

ASU pitcher Dallas Escobedo threw the five-inning shutout, striking out 10. It took the Bulldogs seven batters to put a ball in play.

Liz Buck broke up the prefect game with a base hit in the third.

The Bulldogs fell to 0-10 while ASU improved to 12-0.

Drake played in the Diamond Devil Invitational Friday through Sunday. Check Thursday’s issue for a full recap.

Men’s tennis: No. 45 Drake falls to No. 49 Minnesota, 4-3

Drake came within the doubles point of beating Minnesota on Saturday.

The match started off well, as juniors Alen Salibasic and Ben Mullis beat Eric Frueh and Leandro Toledo, 8-4.

However, Drake lost the other two matches and surrendered the point.

The pair of Robin Goodman and Ben Lott barely fell to Jack Hamburg and Mathieu Froment, 8-7 (2).

Matt Frost and Ravi Patel also lost a close match, theirs to Golden Gophers Jaun Pablo Ramirez and Franz Sydow, 8-7 (2).

In singles play, Salibasic evened the contest to 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Toledo.

Minnesota recaptured the lead when Hamburg took down Drake’s Goodman, 6-2, 6-2.

The Gopher lead was furthered to 3-1 when Frueh dispatched Mullis 6-0, 6-4.

Patel was able to cut the lead to 3-2 by working over Ramirez, 6-3, 6-1.

That, however, wasn’t enough. Lott dropped his match to Ruben Weber, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, to give the Gophers the four points they needed for victory.

Frost was able to scrounge another point for Drake, beating Froment 3-6, 6-4, 10-5.

Drake hosts a double-header Wednesday against Graceland and Iowa.