Redhawks roll to 10th straight win

~ Southeast's softball team sits in third place in the OVC.

It wasn't long ago when the Southeast Missouri State softball team seemingly could do nothing right.

Now the Redhawks can do no wrong.

Southeast extended its winning streak to 10 with Saturday's doubleheader sweep of visiting Eastern Kentucky, 4-3 and 8-5.

That came after the Redhawks suffered through an 11-game losing streak.

Southeast Missouri State's Lauren Bradley singles against Eastern Kentucky during the third inning Saturday at Southeast. (Fred Lynch)

"We're playing well as a team together," freshman ace pitcher Giana Zimmerman said. "We hope to continue it all the way to the [Ohio Valley Conference] tournament."

Eight of the 10 consecutive victories have come in OVC play as Southeast (22-19, 11-8) has moved into sole possession of third place in the nine-team league. The top six finishers make the OVC tournament.

"It's exciting," junior catcher Alex Ramirez said of the winning streak.

Southeast coach Lana Richmond said two main factors have contributed to Southeast's victory string.

The Redhawks' offense has heated up after a slow start and sophomore Whitney Dupuis recently has provided a strong No. 2 pitching complement to Zimmerman.

"Our offense is rolling and we're getting five or six hitting consistently," Richmond said. "We've been searching for that No. 2 [pitcher], and she [Dupuis] has stepped up. She's had three straight good conference outings."

Dupuis (6-7) notched her second straight OVC complete-game victory in the nightcap as she won despite giving up 14 hits.

Zimmerman (13-8) wasn't at her best in the opener but survived an incredible 10 walks en route to her 16th complete game.

"I was surprised we were able to pull through with all those walks," Zimmerman said. "But we're hitting the crap out of the ball. I have confidence in the offense."

It helped that Zimmerman tied her own school record with 13 strikeouts, which she set early last month against Tennessee Tech.

Zimmerman, working out of one jam after another, forced EKU (16-22, 7-10) to strand 14 runners. She allowed seven hits.

The Colonels had a chance to take the lead during their last at-bat.

EKU scored a run to pull within 4-3 and had the bases loaded with two outs, but Zimmerman's final strikeout ended things.

"You can't walk that many batters, but she hung in there," Richmond said.

Southeast finished the day with 21 hits -- the same as EKU -- along with two homers and two doubles.

Dupuis belted her first collegiate home run in the opener, which also featured the team-high sixth homer by Ramirez.

Ramirez went 5-for-6 with four RBIs. In addition to leading Southeast in home runs, she is also first in batting average (.339) and RBIs (24).

"She's been very consistent for us," Richmond said.

Junior left fielder Jennifer Vasquez went 4-for-7, while Dupuis and freshman third baseman Renee Kertz both had three hits.

Sophomore shortstop Nicole Troncoso, second on the squad with a .317 average, added three RBIs.

Diane Gallagher paced EKU's offense by going 5-for-8.

Southeast and EKU close out their three-game series at 1 p.m. today.