Southeast roundup: Softball team falls in extras to conference leader

The Southeast Missouri State softball team continued its tough-luck season Saturday with an extra-inning loss to the Ohio Valley Conference leader.

Tennessee-Martin survived a third-inning rain delay and slipped past the host Redhawks 4-3 in eight innings.

Because of the forecast for more rain later in the day, the nightcap of the scheduled doubleheader was postponed. The squads will play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. today instead of the scheduled single game.

UTM improved to 40-9 to match the program record for wins. The Skyhawks are 17-3 in OVC play and lead second-place Morehead State by three games.

Southeast fell to 15-26 overall and a last-place 5-13 in the OVC. Three of the Redhawks' conference losses have been by one run, with three more league defeats by two runs.

Jordan Garrett led off the top of the eighth inning with a single, was sacrificed to second by Megan Williams and scored the go-ahead run on Chelsea Cary's single.

The Redhawks put their first two runners on base in the bottom of the eighth but could not get the tying run home.

Trailing 3-2, Southeast forced extra innings with a run in the bottom of the seventh. Carmen Fowler led off with a double, was sacrificed to third by Renee Kertz and scored on a single by Alex Ramirez.

Ramirez had two of Southeast's nine hits and drove in two runs. Melissa Walker also had two hits. Jennifer Vasquez delivered the other RBI.

Stefanie Barnes suffered the loss, allowing 10 hits in working all eight innings. She struck out three and walked seven.

UTM hurler Paij Lintz improved to 21-3 with a complete game. She struck out nine and walked four.

Southeast will celebrate senior day today as it wraps up its home schedule. Ramirez and Vasquez, who have been four-year starters, will be honored along with Allie Borowiak, who has not played since 2008 due to an injury but has remained part of the program.

Brister named MVP

Southeast men's basketball signee Marcus Brister was named the most valuable player of his team's National Junior College Athletic Association All-Star Game in Las Vegas on Friday.

Brister, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound point guard who recently concluded his career at Eastfield College in Texas, scored 19 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out seven assists against the NJCAA Division II All-Stars.

Brister was on the NJCAA Division III All-Star team.

Brister will join the Redhawks for the 2010-11 season.

Two athletes honored

Southeast athletes Greg Dambach and Lauren McNamara were presented with the President's Spirit of Southeast Award as part of the Student Life and Leadership Awards Banquet held on campus Friday.

Dambach and McNamara were among six recipients of the honor, the highest bestowed on a Southeast student. Emily Brown, Ben Hooe, Shamone Mitchell and Mallory Simmons rounded out the recipients.

Dambach, an outfielder on the baseball team, holds a 3.95 grade-point average in accounting and is an active member of the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Dambach also is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the Beta Gamma Sigma National Business Honor Society, Southeast National Honor Society and the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Academic Services Review Committee.

McNamara, a pole vaulter on the Southeast track and field team, boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA. She is a member of the Spanish Club, both Phi Eta Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Societies, and Omicron Delta Kappa.

McNamara also serves as the vice president of SAAC and was selected as the university's representative for the NCAA's Career in Sports Forum.

-- From staff reports