SEMO roundup: Southeast tennis team stays unbeaten in OVC play

The Southeast Missouri State tennis team remained undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference after handing Morehead State its first conference loss on Saturday at the Redhawks Tennis Complex.

The Redhawks' 4-3 defeat of the of the Eagles marks Southeast's fifth consecutive win.

Morehead (5-9, 2-1 OVC) took a 3-0 lead but Southeast claimed four wins in singles matches to pull off the win.

Valeriia Nagoviticina won the No. 2 singles match 1-6, 7-6, 6-3.

Heather Robinson, Annisa Warasanti and Melissa Martin each picked up wins in the No. 4 through 6 spots.

Robinson won 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 against Alex Tachovsky.

Warasanti defeated Sandrine Beaule in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3.

Martin claimed her sixth consecutive match with a 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 victory.

Southeast lost 8-5 in both the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles competition.

Southeast (9-5, 3-0 OVC) faces Eastern Kentucky at 10 a.m. today at the Redhawks Tennis Complex. Both teams are undefeated in the OVC.

Softball

The Southeast softball team split games in a doubleheader against OVC opponent Eastern Kentucky (12-12, 2-2 OVC) on Saturday to snap its seven-game losing streak.

The Redhawks (6-14, 1-1 OVC) lost the first game 5-1 before coming from behind in the second game to pull off a 5-3 victory in Richmond, Ky.

Southeast trailed 2-0 after three innings in Game 2 before its offensive erupted for five runs in the fourth.

Sophomore Chelsea Smith doubled with one out in the inning and advanced to third when Kelsey Gass flied out to right center.

Smith scored on a Nicole Deering double to cut the lead to 2-1.

The bases were loaded with two outs after Savannah Carpenter was walked and Jamie Woodworth was hit by a pitch.

Haylee Krack singled to drive in Deering and Carpenter. Leah Duffe singled to center to score the final two runs.

EKU's Kayla Joyce homered in the fifth to cut it to 5-3, but Southeast held on for its first conference win.

Keaira Schilling (2-5) secured the win in the circle. She pitched five innings, giving up two earned runs on eight hits. She had one walk and had one strikeout.

Hannah Durham picked up her first save of the season.

EKU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first game. Sarah Fobbs led off the bottom of the second inning with a home run.

Lauren Mitchell singled and later scored on a throwing error. Krislyn Campos came up with an RBI single with two outs to give EKU its three-run cushion.

The Colonels went up 4-0 on Fobbs' second solo shot of the day in the bottom of the third.

A leadoff double in the fourth and then a two-out single scored the Colonel's final run of the game.

Rachael Duncan homered in the seventh -- Southeast's third hit of the game -- but the Redhawks wouldn't come any closer.

EKU's Leanna Pittsenbarger (9-6) pitched a complete game and collected the win. She allowed just one run on four hits. She struck out 13 batters and walked two.

Hannah Durham (2-4) was tabbed with the loss. She allowed three runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.

The Redhawks face Morehead State in a doubleheader today in Morehead, Ky.

Track & Field

Southeast track & field opened its outdoor season at the Alabama Relays over the weekend.

Junior Chris Navarro competed in the decathlon on Thursday and Friday, and finished with 6,577 points to win the event.

He secured wins in the javelin throw (196 feet, 9 inches) and the 110-meter hurdles (14.61 seconds) and finished third in the pole vault (4.14 meters) and the discus (113-1).

Junior Blake Smith was third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.73 seconds.

Junior Reggie Miller finished second in the high jump on Saturday with a height of 7 feet, 1/4 inches, which ranks as the third-best jump in school history.

The Redhawks came in third in the men's distance medley relay. The team of Charles Johnson, Ellis Maise, Tyler Holmes and Marc Maton finished the race in 10 minutes, 16.89 seconds.

Southeast's next meet is the Memphis Invitatioal in Memphis, Tenn., on March 28 and 29.