By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – An early deficit proved to be too much for the University of Tennessee at Martin softball team, dropping the Ohio Valley Conference series opener at Southeast Missouri by a final score of 9-3 on Saturday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (21-20, 13-8 OVC) opened their final series of the regular season with a matchup against league leading Southeast Missouri (25-11, 17-1 OVC). The Redhawks came out of the gates hot and pushed their home unbeaten streak to 11 games with a six-run victory.
UT Martin tallied six hits in the day but had to battle from behind after facing a seven-run deficit early in the contest. Avry Blume and Maddi Long paced the squad with a pair of base hits while Long drove in two of the team’s three runs. Katie Dreiling added another run with her fourth consecutive game with a home run.
Brooklynn Linneman (6-6) was hit with the loss for the Skyhawks after giving up seven runs in two innings of work. Emily Brown also saw action on the rubber where she allowed two runs in four innings.
Southeast Missouri remains atop the OVC standings after picking up its 17th league victory. Paige Halliwell and Sydney Dennis paced the team with two hits each while Aubrie Shore led the Redhawks with five RBIs, including a grand slam to blow the game open in the second inning.
The Redhawks jumped out to a quick lead by scoring their first run in the bottom of the first. A walk and a single proved costly for the Skyhawks before a RBI groundout by Kat Sackett gave the home team a 1-0 lead.
The home squad broke the game open in the bottom of the second inning. Another RBI groundout – this one from Zoe Schulte – added to the SEMO advantage. Then two batters later, Shore launched a grand slam to center field on the first pitch she saw to push the team’s lead out to 6-0.
SEMO added their final unanswered run in the bottom of the third when Sydney Dennis tripled to center field to drive in a run and take a seven-run lead.
UT Martin broke into the score column in the top of the fourth when Dreiling blasted a solo blast to right field for her 10th home run of the season. The Skyhawks added another run later in the inning as Long followed up a double by Blume with a single to right center to cut the deficit to 7-2.
The score remained the same until the sixth inning when Blume led off the frame with a single to left field before coming around to score on another hit by Long – this time with a double to right center.
Southeast Missouri officially put the game on ice in the bottom half of the inning by adding two more insurance runs as Jillian Anderson and Shore added RBIs to their respective line scores to bring the final margin to 9-3.
The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team concluded the regular season portion of the 2023 schedule with a doubleheader matchup at Southeast Missouri on Sunday, falling by final scores of 9-0 and 5-2.
The Skyhawks conclude the regular season with a 21-22 overall record while going 13-10 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Despite the setback on the final weekend, UT Martin has still secured a top-four seed in the OVC Softball Championship to be contested in Oxford, Ala. from May 10-13 at Choccolocco Park.
With the series sweep of the Skyhawks, Southeast Missouri wrapped up the 2023 OVC regular season championship with a 19-1 record in league play. The Redhawks took care of business at home where they went undefeated at the Southeast Softball Complex for the second straight season.
In today’s doubleheader, eight Skyhawks tallied base hits with Kiersten Nixon pacing the team with two base knocks overall. Kallie Pickens drove in the team’s lone run of the twinbill by hitting a solo home run – her seventh of the season – in the series finale.
Game 42: Southeast Missouri 9, UT Martin 0 (Five innings)
Southeast Missouri jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Alyson Tucker got the Redhawks on the board with a single to right field before a two-run double off the bat of Kat Sackett plated the team’s third run of the frame.
The Redhawk landed a haymaker in the third inning with six runs on five hits. Sydney Dennis scored two runs with a triple to right field before Sackett added her third RBI of the game with a single down the right field line to take a six-run advantage. SEMO was not done as Kynzie Wrigley padded the advantage with a double to left center which was followed by an RBI groundout by Tatum Gerwitz to take a 9-0 lead.
The Skyhawks were no match for the high-powered Redhawk offense as they mustered just one hit in the contest and went down in order in the final two frames before the game was called early after the fifth inning.
Game 43: Southeast Missouri 5, UT Martin 2
Looking to shake things up in the Game 2, the Skyhawks jumped out on front as Pickens launched a solo home run on the second at bat of the contest to take an early lead.
SEMO found the equalizer with a solo home run of its own in the bottom of the second inning as Tucker homered down to left center to tie the game at 1-1.
The Redhawks later took the lead in the third inning as a double to right center from Aubrie Shore scored two while Tucker also added a run-scoring double to take a 4-1 advantage.
The Skyhawks mounted a small rally in the fifth inning as the first three batters reached base in the frame before a fielder’s choice brought in one run to score for the visitors. The visitors found base runners in both the sixth and seventh inning but stranded a pair in each inning and ultimately dropped the regular season finale 5-2.
UT Martin awaits its seed and first round matchup in the OVC Softball Championship. While the Skyhawks have concluded the regular season, other OVC programs still have a final three-game series on the docket next weekend before the tournament bracket is announced.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information