Murray State
Southeast Missouri
Racers Drop Saturday Pair at SEMO
4/16/2011 6:17:25 PM | Softball
BOX SCORE - GAME 1
BOX SCORE - GAME 2
Murray State softball dropped a pair of Ohio Valley Conference contests Saturday afternoon, falling 10-9 in eight innings and 11-4 against Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The Racers scored early, leading off with three runs in the top of the first inning.Jenna Bradley started things off for MSU with a single through the left side of the infield to score Taylor Wilson from second. Bradley stole second and advanced to third on a base hit that dropped in to shallow center from Lauren Buch. Leslie Bridges drove both of them in with two outs, doubling to the outfield wall in left center to put the Racers up 3-0.
Southeast Missouri answered in the bottom half of the inning, scoring a pair of runs with no outs after the first two batters of the inning walked and scored on back-to-back singles into the outfield. The Redhawks took the lead on a three run home run to right field from Taylor Cowan to take a 5-3 advantage.
SEMO added another run in the second on a sacrifice fly with one out to increase its lead to 6-3 through two.
MSU rebounded to bring the deficit to one in the third as Bradley led off the top of the inning with a walk and Buch reached on a fielder's choice on a ball hit off the pitcher's glove that rolled to short stop. Troup drove in the first run of the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a throw home to give the Racers a pair in scoring position with no out. Bridges drove in her third run of the game, reaching on a fielder's choice with no out recorded on the play. The Racers loaded the bases on a Stephanie Mattocks walk but were unable to push any more runs across as the inning ended on a strike out and 5-2-3 double play.
The Redhawks jumped back ahead by three in the bottom of five, recording their second home run of the game off the bat of Carmen Fowler followed by a run scored on a single into left field to lead 8-5.
The Racers stormed back in the top of the sixth with three consecutive hits with one out to score the first run of the inning on a double to right by Buch that left a pair in scoring position. Bridges drove both runs in with two outs, tying the game at 8-8.
Murray State took the lead for the first time since the first inning in the top of the eighth as Mattocks singled to center to score Troup from second after she reached base earlier in the frame on a single to left.
SEMO answered again in the bottom of the inning, singling in two of its first three at-bats. The Redhawks tied the game at 9-9 on a two out single to center that scored one and drove in the game-winning run with a single up the middle from Renee Kertz.
Shelby Kosmecki took the loss for Murray State (13-23, 6-13 OVC), allowing 10 runs, nine earned, off of 13 hits and a pair of walks in 7.2 innings.
Alora Marble picked up the win in relief for Southeast Missouri (19-23, 13-9). She entered with one out in the seventh, allowing one run on two hits.
Bridges led the Racers with five RBI in the opener on a pair of hits. All three of her multi-RBI games this season have come in the last five games.
Bradley and Buch each scored three runs for MSU and Troup joined Bradley with three runs apiece.
SEMO jumped to an early lead in the nightcap, scoring a pair of runs on three hits in the first inning.
The Redhawks increased their lead to 5-0 after two innings, with two runs coming on a two-run homer from Kaitlin Wallace.
The Racers came back in the top of the third to pull within a pair of runs. Mattocks started the inning with a double off of the top of the wall in right field. She moved to third on Stephanie Edwards' single to center two batters later, and both runners scored as Wilson hit her third home run of the season to left field to close the SEMO lead to 5-3.
The hosts tacked on three of their own runs in the bottom half of the third on four hits, two runs scoring on a double to center field from Shelby Stein.
Buch added another run for MSU in the fourth, leading off the inning with a single through the middle. She successfully stole second and advanced to third after the throw hit her and rolled into left center field. Bridges flew out to right field, scoring Buch to record her sixth RBI of the day as the Racers trailed 8-4.
SEMO added three more runs on a pair of home runs in the bottom of the sixth to lead by the eventual final score of 11-4.
Chelsey Sullivan was charged with the loss for the Racers. She allowed eight runs, seven earned, on 10 hits and a walk in three-plus innings in the circle.
Marble picked up her second win of the day for SEMO, throwing all seven innings as she gave up four runs, three earned, on five hits.
The Racers and Redhawks close out the three game series Sunday afternoon with the first pitch scheduled at 1 p.m.
