CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.– Southeast Missouri (41-15, 17-5) swept Morehead State (2-41, 0-20) in a doubleheader with a pair of 7-0, 9-0 shutouts and earned a share of the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title on its home field Friday night.
SEMO finished the regular-season with a new program-record 41 victories and will await its seed for the eight-team OVC Tournament which begins in Oxford, Alabama next week.
"I am so proud of this team," said an elated head coach
Mark Redburn. "It's been so exciting watching these players grow throughout their careers and we are so proud of what the 2019 team and our program has accomplished."
The Redhawks tied Jacksonville State at the top of the OVC standings for a piece of their first regular-season title since 1999.
Sarah Messex went 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and three RBI to propel the Redhawks' game one victory. Then,
Rachel Rook pitched a perfect game with a career-high 12 strikeouts in a remarkable five-inning performance in the nightcap.
SEMO used a big five-run fourth inning to key its first win over the Eagles.
Ahead, 1-0, the Redhawks had four hits in their surge.
Rachel Anderson led things off with a triple to right field, her team-high ninth of the season.
Addison Barnouski flied out to right and Anderson scored.
Kaylee Anderson followed with a single to left field and pinch-runner
Mackenzie Long touched home. On the next play, Messex launched a two-run home run to left center. R. Anderson, during her second trip to the plate in the inning then walked with the bases loaded and
Rachael Donald scored to extend SEMO's lead to 6-1.
An inning later, Messex hit her second home run, this time opposite field to right with two outs. That home run, which marked her ninth of the year, buried the Eagles.
Haley Thogmartin (19-6) and
Alexis Estes combined on the one-hit shutout. Thogmartin struck out four and walked none, while Estes added one strikeout in two scoreless frames.
SEMO had nine hits, with Messex, R. Anderson and Mykaela Arelleanes getting two apiece.
Rook tossed a perfect game and retired all 15 hitters she faced in game two of the twin bill. She struck out the first eight MSU hitters of the contest as her 12 strikeouts are the most by any Redhawk pitcher this season.
Offensively, SEMO gave her plenty of run support and scored five of its nine runs in the bottom of the first inning.
A couple MSU errors figured into the scoring, along with a RBI-single by
Claudia Gallo and RBI from R. Anderson.
Ashley Ellis, who had three doubles in the doubleheader, drove in R. Anderson and who singled home another run to increase SEMO's lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the second.
Two more runs followed courtesy of a R. Anderson home run with one out in the fourth. For R. Anderson, it was her 12th round-tripper.
Rook improved her record to 9-3.
SEMO collected nine hits in the nightcap, three by Ellis, all of which were doubles. R. Anderson contributed two hits and four RBI, while Messex had two stolen bases.
The Redhawks, who won their last four games and six of their final seven of the regular season, will get their seed for the OVC Tournament when the complete conference season ends Sunday.
