Southeast Missouri State softball player Fowler garners first-team honors

The Southeast Missouri State softball team is having a resurgent season, and the Redhawks were rewarded with five all-Ohio Valley Conference honors Wednesday.

Southeast had a first-team all-OVC selection, two second-teamers and a pair of all-newcomer picks.

Voting, which was done by the league's coaches and sports information directors, was announced on the eve of the conference tournament in Charleston, Ill.

Senior second baseman Carmen Fowler is the Redhawks' first-team performer after putting together one of the better seasons in program history.

Fowler is batting .407, third-best in the OVC, while leading the league with a school-record 70 hits. She is fifth in the OVC with three triples and 12 doubles and her 43 RBIs rank sixth.

Fowler ranks in the top 10 in hits, runs, doubles, triples, RBIs, walks and at-bats on Southeast's all-time list. She is threatening the program's all-time single-season batting mark of .413 while trying to become just the sixth Southeast player to hit at least .400.

"She's having a great season," Southeast coach Lana Richmond said.

Junior shortstop Renee Kertz and freshman pitcher Alora Marble are members of the all-OVC second unit.

Kertz ranks second on the team with a .338 batting average and leads the squad with a school-record 47 RBIs. That total ranks fifth in the conference. She also leads the Redhawks with a .550 slugging percentage while ranking second in doubles (11) and home runs (seven).

Marble is 15-7 with three saves and a 3.09 ERA. She ranks fifth in the OVC in wins, ninth in ERA and is tied for first in saves, which equaled the school record. She had a 10-game winning streak end in Southeast's most recent game, a loss to Eastern Kentucky.

Marble also is an all-newcomer pick, along with junior right fielder Cheyenne Gipson, a junior college transfer.

Gipson is batting .315, which ranks third on the squad, and leads the team with 19 stolen bases in 21 attempts. Her stolen base total is tied for fourth on the school single-season list.

Tournament time

Southeast now will set its sights on the six-team OVC tournament that runs today through Saturday and is hosted by top-seeded Eastern Illinois.

"It's a new season now," Fowler said.

The Redhawks (27-28 overall, 17-12 OVC), who finished last in the conference a year ago, placed fifth in the 11-team league this season.

"It's been a turnaround season," said Richmond, whose squad won just six OVC games in 2010.

Fifth-seeded Southeast plays fourth-seeded SIU-Edwardsville (28-28, 19-11) at 12:30 p.m. today in the opening round of the double-elimination event that sends the winner to the NCAA tournament.

The Redhawks took two of three from first-year OVC member SIUE during a March 12 and 13 series in Edwardsville, Ill.

Southeast needed extra innings to capture the first two, 11-4 and 8-6, before being throttled 11-1 in five innings.

"We have as good a chance as anybody," senior Nicole Troncoso said about the tournament.

The Redhawks take confidence in the fact they have at least one win against every conference team.

"It tells the team they can play with anybody," Richmond said.

If the Redhawks beat SIUE, they have another game today, at 5:30 p.m. against regular-season champion Eastern Illinois (39-10, 26-4), which has a first-round bye. If the Redhawks fall to SIUE, they play an elimination contest at 10 a.m. Friday.

Today's other opening-round matchup pits third-seeded Tennessee-Martin (32-22, 19-10) against sixth-seeded Murray State (23-26, 13-15). Second-seeded Jacksonville State (36-18, 21-9) also has a first-round bye.