Southeast Missouri State roundup: Marble silences Evansville to lead Southeast Missouri State softball team to victory

Freshman Alora Marble pitched a gem to help the Southeast Missouri State softball team salvage a split of Wednesday's nonconference doubleheader.

Marble fired a one-hitter for Southeast's first shutout of the season, a 9-0, five-inning victory over visiting Evansville.

The Purple Aces took the opener 4-2 in eight innings. Southeast is 8-16 while Evansville is 6-18.

Marble allowed just a second-inning single. She struck out three and walked three in her first complete-game win.

Southeast supported Marble with 11 hits, including the first home run of the season by junior Renee Kertz. She went 3 for 3 with four RBIs.

Senior Carmen Fowler also went 3 for 3, including a double and two RBIs. She leads the Redhawks and ranks among the Ohio Valley Conference leaders with a .421 average.

Freshman Alene Bethel added two hits and two RBIs.

Sophomore Taylor Cowan's two-run homer in the sixth inning of the opener gave Southeast a 2-1 lead. It was her team-high third home run of the season.

Evansville tied the contest in the seventh, then threw out a Southeast runner at the plate for the third out in the bottom of the frame to force extra innings.

Amy Gaertner's two-run homer in the eighth was the difference. Freshman Shea Cothren took the loss.

Cothren pitched a season-high 7 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs and eight hits. She struck out three and walked none.

Fowler had two of Southeast's eight hits, including a double.

The Redhawks resume OVC play Saturday at defending conference tournament champion and preseason favorite Jacksonville State.

Jacksonville State leads the 11-team league with an 8-0 conference record. Southeast is fourth at 4-2.

Track awards

Southeast nabbed two of the OVC's weekly awards for track and field.

Samantha Espiricueta was named the league's female field athlete of the week and Josh Uchtman earned a similar honor on the men's side.

Both athletes performed well in their first outdoor meet of the season Saturday, the Rhodes College Open in Memphis, Tenn.

Espiricueta won the javelin with a distance of 159 feet, 9 inches. That toss leads the OVC and ranks eighth nationally through the early stages of the season. She also was second in the discus.

Uchtman, who missed nearly a year while recovering from hip surgery, was second in the discus. His throw of 164 feet tops the OVC and ranks 31st nationally.

-- From staff reports