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HISTORY & TRAD.
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Softball Squad Returns to Conference Play to Battle Tennessee State After having four of its last seven games cancelled due to bad weather, Southeast looking to get back into swing of things versus Lady Tigers.
March 27, 2002
TSU Game Notes and Statistics in PDF Format
Southeast vs. Tennessee State Lady Tigers (6-13, 0-2)
April 1, 2002, 3:00 p.m. About Southeast: Mother nature will just not cooperate with the Southeast softball squad. Tuesday's doubleheader with Southwest Missouri State was cancelled because of the cold, the 11th game this season the Otahkians have lost to weather. Southeast next gets back to action against OVC foe Tennessee State with two games in Nashville on Friday and a single game in Cape Girardeau on Monday. Last Saturday, the Otahkians dropped a pair of heartbreakers to EKU, by scores of 3-2 and 2-1. The Otahkians pitching performances were solid as Kristen King and Kelly Birk both were on top of their game. The Southeast bats went quiet though and were not able to push Southeast over the hump. On Sunday, Southeast took an early 1-0 lead on Katie Cerneka's first career homerun, but were not able to score again. EKU got four unearned runs in the third inning and win going away at 7-1. Senior Reagan Hamlin led Southeast in batting last week, hitting a team-high .333 with five hits. For the season, senior SS Dawn Piantino leads the team with a .333 average. Cerneka is hitting .435 after her first homerun, but does not have enough at-bats to qualify for the team lead. TSU has also been effected by the weather, only playing four times in the past two weeks. The Lady Tigers split a doubleheader with Lipscomb in Nashville on Monday afternoon and dropped two games at Tennessee-Martin in their OVC opener on Tuesday. TSU's best player is pitcher Shannon Hicks. Hicks is not only their best player of the mound, but is also the team's leading hitter. The Lady Tigers have never defeated Southeast in 24 games between the two squads. Last season, however, TSU had their best shot as they took Southeast to 12 innings before senior catcher Renee Enos ended the game with a three-run walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 12th. The Opponent: Tennessee State (6-13, 0-2) After having almost a two-week layoff, Tennessee State has gotten back in the swing of things by playing back-to-back doubleheaders on Monday and Tuesday of this week. On Monday in Nashville, the Lady Tigers split a doubleheader with Lipscomb. On Tuesday, TSU began Ohio Valley Conference play by travel to Tennessee-Martin and dropping a pair of games, 2-0 and 5-0. State was limited to just three hits in the two games thanks to a dominant pitching performance from Martin's Kendra Kosco. TSU and SEMO do share one common opponent on the season so far, Indiana State. State dropped two home games to the Sycamores by 12-5 and 11-0 margins back in February. They are being led by sophomore pitcher Shannon Hicks. Hicks is not only the Lady Tigers best pitcher right now, posting three wins on the season, but is also currently the team's leading hitter. In 24 prior meetings to this season, the Lady Tigers have never defeated Southeast Missouri. Last season was their best chance as they led the Otahkians early in the game in a doubleheader in Cape Girardeau thanks to an Antionette Armstrong homerun to right. The game was tied after seven innings and eventually went to the 12th, when senior co-captain Renee Enos hit a three-run, walk-off homerun to seal the victory. In total, Southeast took all four games from TSU in 2001, including a game at the OVC Tournament. TSU Statistical Leaders Batting: Shannon Hicks (.408) Hits: Hicks (20) Runs: Antionette Armstrong (10) 2B: Armstrong (4) 3B: Casundra Jo Sharp (4) HR: Armstrong (2) RBI: Hicks (8) SB: Armstrong (7) E.R.A.: Hicks (5.46) IP: Hicks (47.2) Wins: Hicks (3) K's: Hicks (21) Coaching Comparisons Southeast - Lana Richmond At SEMO (20 yrs.) - 612-343-2 Southeast Notes: It Doesn't Happen Often: For the first time in eight seasons, the Southeast team failed to sweep the OVC opening doubleheader as they lost to EKU on (3/23). Southeast's 0-3 start this season in OVC conference play is only the second time in the program's history they have started with that record. The Otahkians also started 0-3 in 1993 when they dropped two games to Austin Peay and one to Tennessee Tech. OVC Leaders: Individually, only one Otahkian leads the league in an statistical category. Senior Dawn Piantino leads the OVC in walks per game (.56). Senior Courtney Eklund is second at .53 per contest. Fifth Inning Blues Gone: After being outscored 16-0 during the 5th inning in their first 13 games, Southeast scored all three of their runs in a doubleheader against Eastern Kentucky (3/23) in the fifth inning. Batting Woes: Southeast's team batting average fell .009 points to .237 after the three-game series this weekend vs. Eastern Kentucky. On the Other Hand: While the team's batting average went down, the team's E.R.A. also went down from 3.41 to 3.26. In the Field: As a team, Southeast has a .969 team fielding percentage up from the .951 percentage the team had last season. Five Otahkians, 1B Reagan Hamlin, C Jennifer Cobin, OF Courtney Eklund, 3B Kristy Roherty and P Rachel Van Fleet, all have perfect 1.000 fielding percentages. Piantino's Blast: Senior SS Dawn Piantino took the first pitch of the Jacksonville State game (3/15) and parked it over the outfield wall for her first career homerun at Southeast in four seasons. The HR came in her 224th at-bat in a Southeast uniform. It didn't take her that many at-bats to go yard for the second time in her career. Piantino hit her second career homerun 24 at-bats later in game one of a doubleheader against Eastern Kentucky (3/23). Another Blast: Against Gardner-Webb (3/16), sophomore 1B Amy Thompson got her first hit of the season when she smashed a sixth inning, two-run homerun. Last season, Thompson's first career hit at Southeast was a triple and her second hit was a homerun. She was the second Otahkian, Alicia Loucks the other, to hit a homerun for their first hit of the season. The Otahkians are . . .
1-6 When they score first.
0-6 When scoring in the first inning.
3-0 When leading after six innings.
0-12 When trailing after six innings.
3-1 When outhitting their opponents.
1-4 When committing fewer errors than opponent.
1-4 When hitting at least one home run.
0-4 When turning at least one double play.
2-1 When stealing more bases than opponent.
2-5 When they steal at least one base.
1-0 When they strike out less than opponent.
2-7 When they draw at least two base on balls.
1-5 When leaving fewer than five runners on base.
0-4 In one-run games.
0-3 In two-run games.
1-4 In five + run games.
0-2 In shutout games.
0-0 In extra inning games.
3-11 In games starting before 5:00 p.m.
0-2 In games starting after 5:00 p.m.
1-9 When playing in a doubleheader game.
1-0 On Monday.
1-3 On Tuesday.
0-0 On Wednesday.
0-2 On Thursday.
0-4 On Friday.
1-3 On Saturday.
0-1 On Sunday.
Otahkians Amongst the OVC Leaders
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