Southeast Missouri State softball team sweeps Murray State to keep hold on fifth place in OVC

It didn't take long for the Southeast Missouri State softball team to bounce back from a doubleheader in which it was held scoreless.

The Redhawks rebounded from Wednesday's two shutouts at Ohio Valley Conference leader Eastern Illinois, which has the nation's top ERA, by pounding out a doubleheader sweep of Murray State.

Host Southeast belted five home runs Saturday, winning 10-9 in eight innings and 11-4.

The Redhawks improved to 19-23 overall and 13-9 in OVC play.

Southeast remained fifth in the 11-team league.

Ninth-place MSU is 13-23 and 6-13.

Southeast needed an extra-inning comeback to capture the opener.

The squads were tied 8-8 after the regulation seven innings when MSU pushed across a run in the top of the eighth.

Senior pinch-hitter Melissa Walker led off the bottom of the eighth with a single. Junior Evan Sallis singled with one out to put runners on first and second.

Southeast was down to its final out when senior Carmen Fowler, the team's leading hitter with a .397 average, came to the plate.

Fowler delivered a single to center field that scored Walker with the tying run as Sallis moved to third.

Junior Renee Kertz, the squad's second-leading hitter at .350, followed with a single up the middle that plated Sallis and gave the Redhawks their third walk-off win of the season.

Fowler went 3 for 4 with four RBIs. She hit her first home run of the season.

Sallis also went 3 for 4 while Kertz added two of Southeast's 13 hits and recorded two RBIs.

Sophomore Taylor Cowan belted her team-high seventh home run of the year, a three-run shot that highlighted a five-run first inning.

Freshman Alora Marble picked up the win in relief. She allowed two hits and one run in 1 2/3 innings.

Marble came back and went all the way in the second game that saw Southeast roll.

Marble (9-6), who leads the Redhawks in wins and saves with three, allowed five hits and three earned runs while striking out seven and walking none.

The Redhawks banged out 15 more hits, including the first two Southeast home runs for sophomore junior college transfer Kaitlin Wallace.

Wallace went 3 for 4 with three RBIs.

Sallis had two more hits and two RBIs. Fowler also recorded two more hits.

Senior Nicole Troncoso had two hits, including her fourth homer of the season. She drove in a pair.

Also adding two hits apiece were junior Shelby Stein and freshman Shelby Kuryllo. Stein had two RBIs.

The Redhawks and Racers close their three-game series at 1 p.m. today.