PEORIA, Ill. – #5 Southeast Missouri (22-29) fell to #1 Eastern Illinois (34-20), 7-6, Thursday in the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Tournament.
SEMO will come back to play #6 Southern Indiana in an elimination game tonight.
EIU got ahead early with four runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Lizzie Stiverson walked and went to second on a single by Alisha Frederick. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Sophia Olman singled through the left side and Stiverson scored the first run of the contest.
Once the game resumed following a short rain delay, Abbi Hatton singled up the middle to score Frederick. Lexie Griffin later delivered a two-RBI single to give the Panthers a 4-0 lead.
SEMO cut EIU's lead in half during its at-bat in the top of the fourth.
Madison Winkler reached on an infield single and SEMO had runners at second and third after a base hit by
Aubrie Shore. With two outs,
Gracie Luna ripped a single off the left field wall to knock in Winkler and pinch runner
Mary Tutwiler dropping the Panthers' margin to 4-2.
With a runner on and no outs in the bottom of the fourth, EIU went ahead by four runs again, this time on a two-run home run by Viola Smith.
SEMO trimmed the Panthers' lead to two runs for the second time in the top of the fifth.
Brittany Affolter struck out and reached on a wild pitch and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Jaylie Walther.
Kamden Hutton singled to left center and Affolter advanced to third. Winkler then singled home Affolter and
Aubrie Shore reached on an error allowing Hutton to score from second base making the score 6-4.
Lexie Griffin's two-out solo home run pushed EIU's lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
A lightning strike with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning put the game into a one hour and three-minute delay.
Play picked back up just before 4 p.m., CT and SEMO made things interesting in the top of the seventh.
Hutton singled and scored on a double by Winkler.
Raigan Brannon drove in Winkler on a double down the right field line to make it a one-run game before EIU got the final out.
Maddie Carney (6-13) was charged with the loss.
Karlie McKenzie (11-8) picked up the win. McKenzie allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out four in 4.1 innings. Bryanna French was credited with her sixth save of the year.
Hutton and Winkler each went 3-for-4 with two runs scored at the top of SEMO's lineup. Winkler had two RBI, as well.
