OXFORD, Ala. – #4 Southeast Missouri (30-24) saw its strong postseason push end with a close 3-2 loss to #2 Belmont (32-16) Friday night at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
 
BEL moves on to face #1 Murray State for the OVC Championship Saturday. The Bruins will need to beat the Racers twice for this year's crown.
 
SEMO scored in the first inning for the third time in the tournament when it came to the plate in its opening at-bat.
 
Abigail Rickermann led off the game with a walk. Rickermann stole second and advanced to third on an error before scoring when Paige Halliwill reached on an error. Chelsy Pena knocked in Aubrie Shore on a two-out single to center as SEMO took a quick 2-0 lead.
 
BEL scored a pair of two-out runs to tie things up in the bottom of the second. Audrey Lyle drove in Elison Olinger. Rickermann fielded a groundball by Killian Roberts deep at short and threw to catcher Kat Sackett who tagged Emma Barnes before she reached home plate. Barnes, however, was ruled safe anyway due to obstruction bringing the game to a 2-2 deadlock. 
 
The Bruins drew four walks in the fifth inning, where they scored the run that was the difference in the end. BEL had the bases loaded with no outs and Abi Ledbetter walked to score Baie Ensio. 
 
The bases were still full of Bruins with no one out when Pena made an outstanding catch on a hard-hit line drive by Emily Cockrill in left field. SEMO won an appeal at third base where Cheyenne Cavanaugh was called out after leaving the bag early resulting in a double play for the Redhawks. Rachel Rook then escaped the jam to keep it a one-run ballgame.
 
SEMO had one last chance in the top of the seventh with runners on first and second and no outs following back-to-back hits by freshmen Tatum Gerwitz and Sydney Dennis. Emma Summers later earned the save with three-straight outs.
 
The Redhawks had just four hits. Pena led the way with two hits in her final game at SEMO.
 
SEMO finished third in this year's OVC Tournament with a 3-2 mark.