Redhawk freshman, McDonald, selected OVC player of week

Southeast Missouri State freshman second baseman Megan McDonald was named the Ohio Valley Conference's softball player of the week on Monday.

McDonald batted .417 (5-for-12) to help the Redhawks go 3-2 last week, including their first series sweep of Eastern Kentucky since 1999. McDonald had two home runs and a double among her five hits.

McDonald, a graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School, leads the Redhawks with a .356 batting average.

"Megan is having a tremendous season for us," Southeast coach Lana Richmond said. "I haven't been surprised by her play. I thought she would come in and do well, even as a freshman."

Southeast (19-15, 8-4 OVC) hosts St. Louis University in a non-conference doubleheader at 4 p.m. Thursday. They resume conference play this weekend with a three-game home series against first-place Samford. The Redhawks are in fourth place.

Bracamonte also honored

Southeast shortstop Ernie Bracamonte was honored as the OVC's player of the week for baseball on Monday.

Bracamonte, a senior from Chandler, Ariz., batted .524 (11-for-21) while driving in six runs and scoring five runs as the Redhawks went 3-2 last week.

During an 8-5 upset of nationally-ranked Missouri, Bracamonte went 4-for-6 with two home runs and five RBIs, including a game-winning three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning.

After a slow start, Bracamonte has raised his average to .339, second-best on the team. He has a 12-game hitting streak.

Somewhat surprisingly, Southeast freshman Joey Evans was not selected as the OVC pitcher of the week despite picking up three victories, two in relief and one with a complete game. Evans notched four wins in an eight-day period.

Southeast (12-18, 3-6 OVC) plays at 13th-ranked Missouri Wednesday night, then resumes OVC play this weekend with a three-game series at Austin Peay.

Men's track captures title

When Southeast track and field coach Joey Haines departed Oxford, Miss., with his athletes Saturday night following the University of Mississippi Invitational, he knew the Redhawks had fared extremely well, with six regional qualifying results and other top performances.

But Haines did not know at the time just how well the Redhawks had finished as a team because the scores had not yet been announced.

As it turns out, Southeast's men won the title among 16 teams, while Southeast's women finished fifth out of 18 squads, including several from the Southeastern Conference.

Southeast's men scored 97 points to edge Southern Illinois (96). Rounding out the top six were Arkansas State (75), South Florida (65), Tulsa (50) and Mississippi (41).

Southeast's women scored 46 points. The top four were Florida (165), Alabama (128), Mississippi (89) and SIU (69).

"We were real pleased with how everything turned out," Haines said. "We had some super performances."

The Redhawks compete this weekend in the Mississippi State Invitational.

--From staff reports