May 3, 2002

Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. - Southeast Missouri started its second season by jumping out to a 5-0 third inning lead and got strong pitching performances from starter Kelly Birk and reliever Kristen King as the duo combined on a four hitter, allowing only three unearned runs as the Otahkians advanced to the second round of the 2002 OVC Softball Tournament by besting fourth seeded Austin Peay 5-3.

Southeast (14-25) wasted little time getting on the board in the first inning as SS Dawn Piantino jumped on the first pitch of the game and blasted a single to left-centerfield. 2B Brooke Nett reached base after being hit by a pitch and two batters later RF Courtney Eklund doubled to the right field wall scoring Piantino and pushing the Otahkian advantage to 1-0. The double was the 26th of Eklund's career, which ranks her 10th all-time at Southeast.

The third inning proved to be big for Southeast as the Otahkians sent ten batters to the plate and scored four times. Piantino, who ranked second in the conference in walks during the regular season, started the inning by drawing a free pass. A batter later, Nett faked a bunt attempt and smashed a double off the leftfield wall scoring Piantino. Then C Jennifer Cobin lined a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Nett, who had advanced to third base on an error by the Lady Govs shortstop on the previous play. The inning continued with singles by Eklund and starting pitcher Kelly Birk to load the bases. With the bases juiced, DP Kristy Roherty was hit by a pitch, forcing in the fourth run of the game for the Otahks and a single by CF Kemi Rampi, that scored Eklund, added the fifth and final run of the stanza.

Birk took a no hitter into the fourth inning before LF Candice Haefele led off the inning with a chopper back to the mound and beat out a throw to first base. Senior Kristen King took over for Birk on the mound in the bottom of the fifth to give the starter some rest for the remainder of the tournament.

APSU (19-34-1) C Christina Garza started the fifth inning when she reached on an error. Garza advanced to second on a wild pitch and went to third on single by RF Jennifer Adcock, putting runners on first and third with no outs. But King got 1B Christina Nickey to ground into a 4-6-3 double-play that scored Garza and a Heather Stanfill groundout ended the inning with APSU scoring only one run.

The Lady Govs made things interesting in the final inning, scoring two unearned thanks to two Southeast throwing errors. But King closed out the final inning, giving Southeast the 5-3 victory and sending them into the second round.

"Our bats rose to the occasion," Southeast coach Lana Richmond said. "A crucial double play in the fifth inning defensively was the key to the game for us."

Kelly Birk (7-10) was the winning pitcher, allowing only one hit and a walk while striking out four in four innings of work. King picked up her first save of the year, allowing three hits and three unearned runs in three innings of work.

The Otahkian duo of pitchers limited Austin Peay's top two hitters, Jenny Kelley and Misty Claude, to a combined 0-6, including four strikeouts.

Holly Ricketts (7-12) was the losing pitcher, allowing five hits and four runs in two innings of work.

For Southeast, Rampi, Kelly Birk and Eklund each had two hits of the Otahkians total 11.

Southeast will next battle number one seed and host Eastern Kentucky in the second round at 2:00 p.m. later today. The game, originally scheduled for a noon start, was pushed back when action from another field was moved to field one due to over-night rain.

Game Notes: Brooke Nett was hit by a pitch in the first inning, marking the 25th time in her three-year career she has reached base by being hit by a pitch; she is the Southeast all-time leader in that statistical category ... Southeast turned its OVC leading 23rd double-play of the season in the fifth inning ... Southeast improved its record in OVC Tournament to 26-9; the 26 wins are the most ever by an OVC school in the event ... the Otahkians improved to 10-9 when scoring first in games this season, 4-11 when scoring first in a game and 14-1 when leading after six innings ... Southeast is now 4-0 against Austin Peay all-time in OVC Tournament games and have won 33 of the last 35 games overall in the series against the Lady Govs, which is 40-5 in favor of Southeast ... Reagan Hamlin was the only Otahkian starter without a hit, which snapped her six-game hitting streak which had been the longest on the team; Brooke Nett now has the longest streak, which currently stands at five games.