DES MOINES, Iowa – Taylor Howe went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate to lead the University of Evansville softball team to a 9-0 shutout victory over Drake on Friday afternoon at Buel Field.
 
Howe added two RBI and two runs to her tally. Ashtyn Holbrook was 2-3 with two runs and an RBI while Brooke Voss added a home run, two RBI, and two runs. Maliyah Wilkins also drove in a pair of runs. Kate Ridgway continued her stellar pitching tossing six shutout innings on the way to her sixth victory of the season. Ridgway matched her career mark with 10 strikeouts while allowing just two hits. She has recorded a shutout in each of her last three starts.
 
UE opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Holbrook brought in Wilkins with an RBI double for the first run of the afternoon. Emma McDonald's RBI single brought in Holbrook to make it a 2-0 game. Howe's second hit of the afternoon opened the top of the third before Niki Bode reached on a single. Bode's hit brought Morgan Adams to the plate, who reached on an error that scored Howe. With runners on the corners, Wilkins hit into a fielder's choice to scored Bode for the fourth run of the day.
 
Brooke Voss' seventh home run of the season pushed the advantage to five runs in the top of the fourth before Evansville wrapped up the game with a 4-run top of the sixth. Howe's fourth hit of the game, a 2-run single, scored Voss and Eliza Piggott while an RBI single from Wilkins solidified a 9-0 lead.
 
Ridgway took care of business in the bottom of the sixth, adding two more strikeouts to match her career mark while finishing with her sixth victory of the season.
 
On Saturday, the Aces and Bulldogs square off in a 1 p.m. doubleheader.