Missourian Redhawk athletics roundup, Mar. 26: Walk-off grand slam secures softball sweep

Southeast Missouri State had a busy weekend, with diamond sports combining for three wins on Sunday, while the track and field team had a few standouts on its final day at Mississippi State's Bulldog Relays.

__Softball sweeps Southern Indiana__

The Southeast Missouri State softball team hosted Southern Indiana this past weekend, playing once Saturday in an 8-5 win while playing two games on Sunday afternoon, winning 11-0 in five innings in the first game while winning 5-4 in the second.

Alyson Tucker and Zoe Schulte both finished with three-hit games in the 11-0 win against Southern Indiana to open the day, with Tucker’s walk-off grand slam contributing four of her seven RBIs in the game.

The Redhawks’ Marisa Davis finished with 5.0 innings pitched, allowing two hits, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch while striking out seven batters, recording the win.

The second game of the day saw the Redhawks trailing enter the bottom of the seventh inning. Tucker sent a single into center field, scoring two runners before Abigail Rickermann’s single walked it off for Southeast Missouri State, completing the weekend sweep.

For the second time of the day, Davis earned the pitching win, coming on in the top of the seventh and pitching the final two outs, striking out a batter while allowing two hits in 0.2 innings of action, eventually earning the win.

The Redhawks (14-8) next play at 3 p.m. on Tuesday at Southern Illinois (23-5).

__Baseball edges SIUE__

The Redhawks won the rubber match of a three-game road series against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Sunday, defeating the Cougars 8-4 to improve their team record to 12-14 on the season.

Southeast Missouri State earned a four-run victory in the game despite entering the ninth inning in a 4-all draw with the Cougars.

Peyton Leeper notched his only hit of the day, singling into center field to score Danny Sperling and giving the Redhawks a 5-4 lead. Josh Cameron then sent a three-run home run over the right field wall, quadrupling the Redhawks’ lead.

Kyle Miller earned the win on the mound for Southeast Missouri State, allowing one earned run in relief action while giving up one hit and striking out a pair.

Southeast Missouri State next plays at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Evansville (16-7).

__New track and field records__

The Southeast Missouri State track and field team competed in the Bulldog Relays this past weekend, with three athletes taking gold medals on Saturday at Mississippi State.

Breanna Miles, a junior from Memphis, Tenn., competed in the women’s 200-meter dash and finished with a school-record time of 23.71 seconds, earning the gold medal. Miles finished just 0.12 seconds ahead of West Alabama’s Kaitlin Hill at 23.83, while the bronze trickled down to Mississippi State’s McKenzie Calloway with a time of 24.22.

Senior Katie Wegmann finished the women’s 1500-meter run with a time of 4:27.15, earning the gold medal while finishing five seconds ahead of teammate Taylor Fox with a time of 4:32.81.

On the men’s side, sophomore Nick Cimmarusti earned a gold medal in the men’s 3000-meter run with a final time of 8:33.65, defeating second-place Caleb Scheffler of Samford by nearly seven seconds at a time of 8:40.22.

The Redhawks track and field team next hosts the Joey Haines Invitational, beginning on Friday at the Abe Stuber Track Complex.