Story by Ashley Beall

Photo by Joel Venzke

The Drake University softball team fell to Illinois State this past Monday, 11-0. The Bulldogs were supposed to face Illinois State again but had to cancel due to rainy weather.

“We started out pretty strong. We were down 3-0 in the first and obviously that wasn’t ideal, but we played pretty good defense,” said junior Rebekah Schmidt. “It was in the third inning that we had a rain delay and a rain delay always puts you through a loop. We had to wait in the rain in the dugout for a while for about 45 minutes.”

The Bulldogs struggled to gain momentum after the rain delay and were losing 5-0 when a play at first sparked a heated debate between Drake head coach Rich Calvert and the umpire that ended with him being ejected from the game.

“Basically, it went down from there,” Schmidt said. “He was yelling at the umpire and he got thrown out, and that just affected the team and our overall mindset just turned.”

After winning their game against Indiana State in extra innings, this did not look like the same squad facing Illinois State. The game only went five innings due to the run rule.

“I think we just each needed to individually step up,” Schmidt said. “Coach Calvert was yelling at the umpire and then he got kicked out, and everyone was so overwhelmed and everyone just kind of let that get to them, including me. We just needed to take one pitch at a time, one play at a time and just play. It starts from that mindset and being able to move on.”

Redbirds pitcher Regan Romshek pitched a shutout  against the Bulldogs and only allowed five hits to be hit off of her. It was her fifth shutout of the season.

“It was just one of those games where nothing could go right, and obviously, the weather didn’t help,” Schmidt said. “We were coming from Indiana State and had played 12 innings there, which was an awesome win, but we were just tired and obviously that’s no excuse but it just wasn’t good.”

In the fourth inning, the Bulldogs were able to get in scoring position with senior Jordan Gronewold ripping off a hit to get on base.

This was followed by senior Amy Pierce, who was able to get on base and safely steal. However, Gronewold tried to run home and was out.

“After the game, Coach Calvert just told us that this kind of thing happens, and we just have to move on from it,” Schmidt said. “He told us to remember this sour taste in our mouths and just come back even stronger for our conference tournament because this is where our tournament will be held.”