Redhawks drop opening game in OVC tournament

The Southeast Missouri State softball team was trimmed 3-2 by Tennessee-Martin in the opening round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament on Thursday in Jacksonville, Ala.

The fifth-seeded Redhawks (25-27) fell into the elimination bracket of the tournament and play 12:15 p.m. today against No. 3 Samford (27-25), which beat Eastern Kentucky 4-0 and then lost 6-0 to Tennessee Tech. The loser of that game goes home, while the winner moves on to a 2:30 p.m. elimination bracket game.

Southeast never led Thursday against No. 4 UT-Martin, falling behind 1-0 in the first inning and 2-0 after two innings.

But Lindsey Pickering drove a solo home run -- her second of the year -- over the center-field fence in the fourth inning to put the Redhawks on the board.

In the fifth inning, Lyndsey Webb led off with a single, moved to second on Stephanie Mata's bunt, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Victoria Torrez's single to tie the game.

Christa Webb's home run to left in the bottom of the fifth inning gave UT-Martin the lead for good.

The Skyhawk's Nicole Davis pitched two perfect innings to close out the complete game and pick up the win.

Torrez had two of Southeast's five hits against Davis.

Freshman Elaine Fisher had pitched the first two innings for Southeast, surrendering two runs on four hits. Stephanie Huffman took the loss, giving up one run on two hits in 2 2/3 innings. Amy Fahnestock closed out the final 1 1/3 innings.

UT-Martin (32-21) lost 11-4 to No. 1 seed Jacksonville State later Thursday in the double-elimination tournament.

OVC Tournament Schedule

(at Jacksonville, Ala.)

Thursday

Game 1 -- Tennessee-Martin 3, SE MISSOURI STATE 2

Game 2 -- Samford 4, Eastern Kentucky 2

Game 3 -- Jacksonville State 11, Tennessee-Martin 4

Game 4 -- Tennessee Tech 6, Samford 0

Friday

Game 5 -- Eastern Kentucky vs. Tennessee-Martin, 10 a.m.

Game 6 -- SE MISSOURI STATE vs. Samford, 12:15 p.m.

Game 7 -- Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 2:30 p.m.

Game 8 -- Jacksonville State vs. Tennessee Tech, 4:45 p.m.

Saturday

Game 9 -- Game 8 loser vs. Game 7 winner, 10:00 a.m.

Championship -- Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 12:15 p.m.