OTAHK SOFTBALL LIKELY TO SEE REIGN STOPPED

Because of a slow start, Southeast Missouri State University's string of five consecutive Ohio Valley Conference regular-season softball titles is likely to end this year.

But the way the Otahkians have rebounded in recent weeks has greatly lifted the spirits of coach Lana Richmond, who believes her team can still accomplish some very special things this season.

"We're playing our best softball of the season right now," said Richmond, whose squad had its scheduled non-league home doubleheader against Evansville rained out Monday. "I think we've really turned things around."

Once 11-17 overall, the Otahkians have won eight of their last 10 games to improve to 20-20 overall and 11-6 in OVC play. With seven OVC games left, Southeast is in third place in the nine-team league, trailing 12-2 Middle Tennessee and 12-3 Eastern Illinois.

"A lot can happen in the last two weeks, but it's going to be real tough to win the OVC (regular-season) title because of those six losses," Richmond said. "Our goal is to finish out 18-6, and wherever that may land us in the conference, so be it.

"As for the OVC Tournament, I think we have a very good chance of winning that and going on to the NCAAs again, which is our ultimate goal. I feel we are one of the top teams in the conference right now and I guarantee you, nobody wants to get us in their bracket (for the OVC tourney)."

Southeast, which has lost as many league games this year as in the previous three seasons combined, graduated a host of key players -- including its entire pitching staff -- from last year's squad that won OVC regular-season and tourney titles to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

So Richmond figured some of her younger players -- several freshmen and sophomores start and every hurler is a newcomer -- might take a while to become solid college performers.

But, according to Richmond, most of her youngsters have done the job all season. Instead, she said it was her veterans who took a while to get going.

"Any time you have a completely new pitching staff and over half your team is new, you kind of expect your consistency to come later in the season," she said. "But the freshmen and sophomores have been doing well all year long. The juniors and seniors have struggled until the last few weeks.

"Now the veterans are starting to turn the corner and things seem to be really clicking for us."

Offense has been a sore spot for the Otahkians so far this season as they have just a .244 team batting average, but three youngsters have been solid.

Sophomore Dawn Piantino, a utility player who has played some shortstop and third base, has only had 43 at-bats despite starting 23 games, but she is hitting .302.

Freshmen Brooke Nett and Jenny Doehring are batting .289 and .288, respectively, to lead the way among the full-time performers.

Nett, also a soccer player at Southeast, leads the squad in stolen bases with eight and she is tied for second in doubles with eight. Doehring is first in doubles with nine, second in triple with three and tied for third in runs batted in with 17.

"Two freshmen are our leading hitters and Dawn has come up with some key hits," said Richmond.

Junior Renee Enos, after a slow start, has come on strong in recent weeks to help the Otahkians during their hot stretch. She is batting .287 with eight doubles, a team-high 20 RBIs and two home runs, which ties her for the team lead.

Senior Kelsey White is batting .262 with a team-high six triples, and she is second on the squad with seven stolen bases.

Sophomore Emmy Kisaka is at .257 with 18 RBIs, which is second on the squad. Sophomore Courtney Eklund is tied for the team home-run lead with two and she has 17 RBIs.

"Our hitting has been our weak spot this year, but it's come around some lately," said Richmond. "I bet we've raised our average 20 points in the last two weeks."

Richmond has been generally pleased with the Otahkians' new-look pitching staff that is led by Doehring, who has a 4-5 record and a 1.77 earned-run average.

"Jenny has stepped it up and pretty much been the anchor of our staff," said Richmond. "Her record doesn't reflect the way she's been pitching. She picked up three wins last week (including two shutouts)."

Other Southeast hurlers are freshman Renee Mueller (10-11, 2.67 ERA) and senior Jennifer Dippel (6-4, 2.93 ERA), who is in her first year playing for the Otahkians. Southeast's team ERA is 2.50.

"Some outings they've been roughed up, but overall I've been pleased with our pitchers," Richmond said.

Southeast will play a non-league doubleheader Wednesday in St. Louis against Southwest Missouri, followed by a three-game weekend OVC series at Morehead State.

"We just want to keep improving and finish the regular season really strong," said Richmond. "We can still end up having a very good year."