MONROE, La. – Southeast Missouri (6-7) scored two unearned runs in the top of the 10th inning to pick up a gritty 7-5 win over Tarleton State (13-8) Sunday at the Best on the Bayou Tournament.
 
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, Sydney Melton was placed on second base and scored when Madison Winkler reached on a one-out error. With two outs, freshman Addisyn Martinie singled through the right side and Winkler touched home.
 
Tegan Livesay then got Tristyn Trull to line into a double play and Kalyn Hill to groundout in the heart of the Texans lineup ending the marathon game.
 
The back-and-forth matchup featured three ties and four lead changes.
 
Down, 2-1, Brooklyn Saysoff led off the top of the seventh inning with a double to right center and quickly advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Sophie Schupp. Gracie Luna followed with a one-out single up the middle scoring Saysoff to send the game to extra innings.
 
Melton started the eighth inning on second base and went to third when Tatum Gerwitz grounded out. Sydney Dennis reached on an infield single, and Melton scored. After Martinie got on with an infield hit of her own, Saysoff ripped a single to center and Dennis scored to put SEMO ahead, 4-2.
 
TSU countered with two runs of its own to give the contest its second tie.
 
Trull singled to right and Haley Hughes was able to score with the help of an error. Jaelynn Duke later hit a sacrifice fly to score the tying run and bring the game to a 4-4 deadlock.
 
SEMO regained a one-run advantage in the top half of the ninth when Luna delivered a single to center and pinch-runner Selby Patberg scored making it 5-4.
 
TSU scored its final run on a two-out base hit by Austin Germain that knotted things up at 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth.
 
Maddie Carney gave SEMO a strong start keeping TSU scoreless for four innings.
 
Carney threw a 1-2-3 third inning and pitched around a one-out single in the first, a one-out double in the second and one-out walk in the bottom of the fourth. Only two runners made it into scoring position against her with neither making it past second base.
 
In her team-high fourth start of the season, Carney gave up just two hits and recorded outs on seven fly balls and five ground balls in outing.
Willow Van Haren relieved Carney in the fifth inning and retired the first five hitters she faced before TSU took its first lead in the sixth.
 
With two outs, Trull and Casey Schultz each walked, and Hill singled to load the bases. Duke followed Schultz's bases on balls with a double down the left field line scoring Trull and Hill to give TSU a 2-1 edge.
 
SEMO scored the game's first run with the help of an error in the top of the fourth.
 
Gerwitz reached on a throwing error by Trull to start the inning. Gerwitz made it all the way to third on the mishap and scored on an ensuing single by Winkler to put the Redhawks ahead, 1-0.
 
SEMO outhit TSU, 11-7, with Winkler, Martinie, Saysoff and Luna paving the way with two hits each. Winkler, Martinie and Saysoff combined for six hits, three RBI and two runs scored.
 
Livesay (1-1) earned her first win of the season. She allowed three runs (two unearned) on three hits, struck out four and walked one in 4.1 innings.
 
Shelby Schultz (5-2) suffered the loss. Schultz scattered seven hits, gave up five runs (all unearned) and struck out three in four relief innings.
 
SEMO opens Ohio Valley Conference play at home when it hosts UT Martin in a three-game series on Mar. 8-9.