OTAHKS SPLIT, MAINTAIN FIRST PLACE IN OVC

The Southeast Missouri State University Otahkian softball team rebounded from its first home loss of the year Monday at Parker Field to take the second game of an important conference doubleheader against Tennessee Tech.

The Otahkians dropped the opening game 5-1, but in the second game Debbie Schmelz and Christine Engelhardt combined on a 3-0 shutout.

The twin bill split kept Southeast well ahead of the pack in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Otahks are now 15-4 in the OVC and 22-15 overall. Eastern Illinois (13-7) and Middle Tennessee (9-5) are second and third, respectively, in the conference. Tech, currently in fourth place, is now 13-8 and 23-8 overall.

The Otahks couldn't catch a break in the opening loss, but in the second game leadoff batter Chris Shetley turned the Otahkians fortunes around with a home run down the left field-line. The homer, Shetley's fourth of the year, put Southeast up 1-0.

"In the second game we started off with the leadoff home run and we just tried to keep adding onto that," Otahkian coach Lana Richmond said.

Southeast didn't add much more to that lead but timely defensive plays and strong relief pitching by Engelhardt proved enough for the win.

The Otahkians gunned down three Tech runners on the base paths to help starter Schmelz get out of trouble in her four innings of work. Schmelz, with the help of her defense, worked around seven Tech hits to earn her ninth win of the year (9-7).

"We were making the big (defensive) plays on them," Richmond said with a smile after seeing Tech do the same thing to the Otahkians in the first game. "They (Tech) had opportunities to score a lot of times, but our defense came up with the big plays."

Catcher Kendra Williams played a major role in two of the dazzling defensive plays. In the second, with Southeast still leading 1-0, Williams blocked the plate beautifully as Tech's Angel Berry attempted to score from second on a single down the line.

The relay throw from the outfield was a little high, but Williams jumped up for the ball, remained in front of the plate and came down with a quick tag to record the out. Williams also threw out speedy Tech leadoff batter Stacy Hughes with a bullet to second that stopped a Tech rally in the third.

Southeast added a run in the third on a Kim Palmer sacrifice fly and in the sixth on an RBI-single by Josie Earnest scoring Palmer for insurance.

Earnest and left fielder Anne Wilson both had two hits for Southeast.

But once Engelhardt took over on the mound for Schmelz in the fifth, Tech's bats went silent. Engelhardt pitched the final three innings, allowing only one runner and striking out two for the save. She also pitched six strong innings of relief in the first game.

"Christine came in during the first game and shut them down then in the second game she had to come back in because Debbie wasn't as sharp as she usually is," said Richmond. "Chistine's been doing that all year for us."

Engelhardt entered the game as the third-leading pitcher in the OVC with an ERA of 1.31. Heather Peterson (5-5) entered the game with a 1.78 ERA, but took the loss for Tech.

In the first game, Tech scored four runs in the second inning off Southeast starter Sara Reichert and the Otahks stranded eight baserunners in the loss.

"We had people on base but when we'd make the key hit they would make the superb defensive play," said Richmond. "That took us out of a big inning every time"

Erin Frazier had two hits in the loss and she scored the Otahkians' only run in the fifth inning on a single by Jenny Oermann.

Tech's Katie Maroon, second in the OVC with a 1.19 ERA entering Monday, pitched five innings to record the win. She is now 9-1.

The Otahkians will return to action today, facing nationally-ranked Missouri in St. Louis.