OTAHKS STAY PERFECT IN OVC

Two huge hits were all the offense Southeast Missouri State University's softball team needed Monday against Middle Tennessee to gain their fourth Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader sweep of the season.

Kim Palmer smashed a three-run home run in the first inning of the opening game at Parker Field as the Otahkians cruised to a 5-0 victory. In the second game, Renee Enos ripped a bases-loaded single in the third inning to score two runs in a 4-1 win.

Southeast starters Debbie Schmelz and Christine Engelhardt both hurled complete games on the mound to make those big hits stand up. Schmelz improved her record to 12-3 with a five-hit shutout in the first game. Engelhardt (10-2) followed in the nightcap, allowing an unearned run on seven hits.

The sweep extended the Otahkians' win streak to 14 games and improved their overall record to 25-5. More importantly it kept the Otahkians undefeated in the OVC with an 8-0 mark. Middle Tennessee fell to 14-18 and 2-6 in the league.

"SEMO has better athletes than we have and they showed it," said MTSU coach Karen Green. "I don't think we played bad, but they still beat us."

Palmer's first-inning home run over the left-field fence was all the offense Schmelz needed in the first game. Joanne Hicks and Chris Shetley strung together back-to-back extra base hits in the fourth inning to score the Otahkians' final two runs.

Hicks' triple to the fence in right field scored Ricki DeArmon, who had two of the Otahkians' seven hits in the first game. Shetley followed with a double off the right fielder's glove to score DeArmon with the final run.

Schmelz, a crafty junior, relied on the Southeast defense to record every out. She recorded no walks and no strikeouts.

"Debbie had a real solid game," said Southeast catcher Renee Enos. "She came at (MTSU) and got on top early. She, as well as Christine, got a couple key outs when we needed them."

Engelhardt had to work a little harder for her victory, getting out of jams in the third, sixth and seventh innings.

Tied 1-1 in the third inning, Engelhardt faced her toughest test of the day with the Lady Tigers' top two batters coming up with the bases loaded and only one out. Engelhardt, a hard-throwing junior, got out of the mess by coaxing a weak pop-up by No. 3 hitter Allison Cheatham and then striking out clean-up batter Courtney Wallace for the final out.

"That was the biggest inning for Christine," said Southeast coach Lana Richmond. "When she got (Cheatham) out I felt more relieved and then she came back and struck (Wallace) out.

"That was such a crucial situation, but Christine was able to maintain her composure and get the job done."

Enos rewarded Engelhardt in the bottom-half of the inning with a bases-loaded single with two out to put Southeast on top to stay.

"Renee had a big, two-out RBI there," Richmond said. "She stroked the ball real good (Sunday) so we decided to give her another start in the second game and she came through with a big hit."

Enos jumped on the first pitch from MTSU starter Wallace.

"The whole game, (Wallace) was feeding a fat first pitch so I just came up ready to hit," Enos said. "I just wanted to rope it and I did."

Jenny Oermann, who went 3-for-3 in the finale, scored Shetley with a double to provide more insurance in the sixth inning. Jenni Gaines put Southeast on the board in the second inning with a two-out triple down the right-field line.

Except for Palmer's three-run homer in the first game, all of the Otahkians' runs in the doubleheader were scored on two-out hits. Southeast out-hit MTSU 8-7 in the second game.

After a day off today, Southeast will host Eastern Illinois in a 2 p.m. doubleheader between two undefeated OVC teams.