Rain washes away Redhawks chance to sweep series vs. UTM

Bad weather prevented the Southeast Missouri State baseball team from having a shot at claiming a series sweep over host Tennessee-Martin.

Steady rain that never let up canceled Sunday's Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader. Per OVC rules, the games will not be made up.

Southeast survived a rain delay of nearly four hours before winning Saturday's series opener 19-6 in five innings due to darkness.

The Redhawks (10-8, 3-1 OVC) are in second place in the OVC, trailing 5-0 Samford, which had Sunday's game at Murray State rained out after the Bulldogs swept Saturday's doubleheader.

Tennessee-Martin (1-19, 0-4) remains in last place.

Southeast visits Evansville at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a nonleague game,.

Softball sweeps

The Southeast softball team bounced back from Saturday's tough loss at Austin Peay to rout the Govs in Sunday's doubleheader.

Southeast romped 12-0 and 9-4 in a pair of five-inning games. The Redhawks dropped Saturday's contest 5-4 as the Govs scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Redhawks (15-17, 5-6) have won four of their last five OVC games and moved up to fifth place in the 10-team league.

Elaine Fisher notched both victories Sunday. She pitched a one-hit shutout in the opener, then fired three innings of two-hit, scoreless relief in the nightcap.

Southeast had 12 hits in each game. Megan McDonald went 5-for-8 with two doubles and five RBIs as she pushed her team-leading batting average to .420.

Jennifer Vasquez also was 5-for-8, while getting three hits apiece were Michelle Summers -- who is batting .413 -- Stacia Dopudja and Alex Ramirez.

The Redhawks host Tennessee State for a three-game OVC series this weekend.

Track fares well

Southeast track and field athletes took home a number of top-five finishes during Saturday's Mississippi State Invitational.

First-place performances came from Audrey Harwood in the pole vault with a height of 11 feet and Ben Stricklin in the javelin with a throw of 192-11.

Samantha Espiricueta and Lindsay Hearne both regionally qualified in the javelin while placing second and third, respectively. Espiricueta threw 149 feet, followed by Hearne at 148 feet. Rebecca Martin was fourth (129).

Ashley Brewer placed second in the discus (143-9) and Brianna Egbuka was fourth in the shot put (42-6 3/4). Josh Uchtman was third in the discus (149) and fourth in the shot put (49-1 3/4).

Linnea Woldtvedt was third in the 1,500-meter run (4:58.25).

In the men's and women's 3,000, Brandi Gervais (11:05.66) and Brandon Karcher (8:58.26) both finished fourth.

Other notable performances were by Andy Glass, who was fourth in the shot put (47-10); Richard Martin, who finished fourth in the javelin (147-11); and Stephanie Harres, who placed fifth in the 3,000 (11:25.24).

Southeast hosts its annual SEmotion Relays Friday and Saturday.

Gymnasts honored

Four Southeast gymnasts earned all-Midwest Independent Conference honors following Friday's MIC meet in Shreveport, La.

First team all-MIC is awarded to those finishing in the top three in the four events and the all-around. Second team all-MIC recognizes those finishing fourth through sixth.

Southeast gymnasts making the first team were Sandra Blake (floor, all-around), Rikara Turner (all-around) and Brianna Gaddie (vault).

Blake also made the second team on vault while Turner made it on floor. Also on the second squad was Jena Nguyen (beam).

The Southeast coaching staff also was honored as Tom Farden was named head coach of the year for the third straight season and Brogan Evanson was named assistant coach of the year for the second straight season.

Southeast, ranked 34th nationally, appears to be in line for a spot in the NCAA South Central Regional. The top 36 squads in the final rankings qualify for regionals. The regional berths will be announced today.

Tennis wins two

The Southeast women's tennis squad picked up two nonconference wins over the weekend in Macomb, Ill., beating Western Illinois 4-3 Saturday and Wisconsin-Milwaukee 4-3 Sunday.

Singles winners for Southeast (5-8) in both matches were No. 1 Bryce Kristal, No. 3 Julia Masotti and No. 4 Alyce Kelly. Capturing doubles victories in both matches were No. 1 Bryce and Drew Kristal, along with No. 2 Masotti and Kelly.

Southeast returns to action Thursday at Tennessee-Martin.

-- From staff reports