Softball | 8/3/2022 12:00:00 PM

ITTA BENA, Miss. – Next on this year's countdown of Mississippi Valley State's 15 most memorable individual moments of the 2021-22 athletic calendar is moment number three as junior first baseman Naomi Drake completed one of the rarest feats ever achieved on the diamond; an inside-the-park grand slam which accounted for the winning four-run margin.
 
Drake, who had not hit a home run in her career over 109 prior at-bats nor the previous 58 games, hit a looping ball in front of a charging right fielder who promptly slipped as the ball rolled to the chain link fence to allow the Elk Grove, California native to motor all the way home without a play.
 
To put into perspective just how rare of an occasion it was, it was the club's first grand slam or inside-the-park homer in over a full season, and the first recorded inside-the-park slam in program history since the NCAA started keeping individual game box scores in 2012.
 
Her one swing netted a career-best four total bases and four RBIs while driving in more runs than her entire season total leading up to the contest (3).
 
For the season, Drake was named SWAC Hitter of the Week on February 23, recorded 13 hits, drove in eight runs, walked six times, and scored four runs.  
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