Murray State
Southeast Missouri
Softball Clinches Third Straight OVC Championships Trip With Wins Over SEMO
4/28/2012 6:00:00 PM | Softball
Game 2: Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
Murray State softball clinched its third straight trip to the OVC Championships Saturday afternoon, stretching its winning streak to eight straight by outlasting Southeast Missouri 3-1 and 10-7 in a pair of games that couldn't have been more different.
Following five straight scoreless innings of an intense match-up between both team's staff aces, Southeast Missouri finally scored the first run of the game in the top of the sixth as Shelby Stein led off the inning with a first pitch home run to straightaway center field to take a 1-0 lead.
Murray State (28-16, 16-10) would fight back in its half of the inning, loading the bases with nobody out as Ellyn Troup started things off with a single through the left side of the infield. She would be safe at second on a Megan Glosser bunt, as the Redhawks dropped the ball at second attempting to get the force out on the play. Four straight balls to Mo Ramsey would load the bases, and two batters later, a fly ball to center field from Leslie Bridges would be deep enough to score Troup and advance each of the runners into scoring position.
Casey Castile would come through with two outs, dropping a single into right field between a charging right fielder and backing up second baseman, scoring both Glosser and Ramsey to give the Racers a 3-1 lead.
Murray State starting pitcher Shelby Kosmecki would shut down SEMO in the top of the seventh, getting three straight outs to wrap up the two-run win.
Kosmecki was on her game in the opener, giving up just three hits and striking five while walking zero, the first time this season that she hasn't issued a free pass in a complete game this season. She improved to 11-9 on the season.
Alora Marble dropped to 13-13 on the season, giving up five hits and a walk as the Racers scored three unearned runs. She struck out four on the game.
SEMO (22-28, 13-15) would take advantage of an errant throw in the top of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. Evan Sallis would take home as the throw to third attempting to catch her off the base bounced into the Murray State dugout, awarding her home plate.
Glosser would start the MSU rally in the bottom half of the first, doubling as her hit into center field bounced off the glove of the running SEMO center fielder. She would score two batters later as Alexa Becker blasted her fifth home run of the season to take a 2-1 lead.
Mandi Kellerman would add a pair of runs to the Murray State total, hitting a double into right field to plate pinch runner Alaina Zloty and Castile to increase the MSU advantage to 4-1.
Southeast Missouri grabbed four runs of its own in the top of the third as Sallis led off the inning with a ground ball that rolled the length of the third-base line within inches of going foul but stayed in fair territory. She moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a double to left field by Renee Kertz.
Kertz was put into motion on a single into center by Taylor Cowan, and a wide throw to home down the first baseline towards the visitor's dugout allowed Kertz to score.
Lindsey Patterson would put the Redhawks back in the lead with a two-run home run to left field as SEMO claimed a 5-4 lead through two and a half innings.
Four proved to be the lucky number of the third inning as the Racers also tacked four runs onto their total. Leslie Bridges led things off with a single through the hole in the left side of the infield, and moved into scoring position on a passed ball. She would score from second on a single from Kellerman that rolled through the SEMO right fielder's legs, allowing Kellerman to advance to third. She would score on a sac fly to deep center from Sarah Anderson.
Later in the frame, Troup's second home run of the season would drive in two more runs as the Racers would claim an 8-5 lead.
SEMO cut back into the lead in the top of the fourth, scoring one on a single into right field by Kertz, and adding a second run on an infield popup to Becker deep at short to cut the deficit to a single run.
The Racers made a pair of spectacular defensive plays in the top of the sixth, with Becker diving fully-extended behind third base to take away a base hit from Kertz, and Ramsey saved at least one run from scoring by making a running catch in the tip of her glove in the right field gap to end the inning.
Becker came through big again in the bottom half of the inning, doubling into the left field corner to score Glosser and advance Ramsey to third, where she would cross the plate a batter later on a Bridges sac fly to center to put the Racers up three heading into the top of the seventh.
Kosmecki, having entered in the top of the sixth with the Racers up a run, locked up her first save of the season by shutting the Redhawks down in order.
CheyAnne Gaskey improved to 7-2 on the season, giving up 10 hits and a walk while allowing seven runs, six of them earned, in five-plus innings of action.
Taylor Cowan fell to 1-6 in 2012, giving up six runs in 5.2 innings of relief, striking out four and walking one.
The Racers had better luck against Marble in the second game, getting to her for four runs, three earned, in just a third of an inning on four hits and a walk.
Glosser, Ramsey and Becker each had a pair of hits out of the top three spots in the lineup, and they were joined by Kellerman, who along with Becker, drove in three runs.
The Racers conclude the 2012 home schedule Sunday afternoon, closing out the three-game set with SEMO at 1 p.m. Prior to tomorrow's contest, Murray State will send off its three members of the class of 2012 in a pre-game ceremony.
