EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball had a fast start to Saturday’s series finale against Southeast Missouri State University, but the Screaming Eagles had to fight off a late charge by the visiting Redhawks to claim a 5-4 victory at USI Softball Field.
With Saturday’s win, Southern Indiana (14-13) captured its third consecutive series win in Ohio Valley Conference play to maintain a top-two spot in the standings with an 8-4 OVC record. Southeast Missouri (12-20) dropped to 7-5 in OVC action.
Southern Indiana came out with a flying start in the bottom of the first inning on Saturday. Following a leadoff single by senior outfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana), Bedrick came around to score in the next at-bat by sophomore outfielder Caroline Stapleton (Shirley, Indiana) with an RBI double. Stapleton would be thrown out trying to advance an extra base, but junior infielder Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana) stepped up to the plate next with her first home run of the season, a solo shot, to put USI ahead 2-0. The fast start by the Screaming Eagles forced Southeast Missouri to make a pitching change with only out in the bottom of the first.
The Screaming Eagles added three more runs in the second inning, including one on an RBI single from Stapleton, to take a 3-0 lead. Before the end of the second frame, SEMO went to its third pitcher of the game, as USI had claimed a 5-0 advantage.
Later on, Southeast Missouri made a push. With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fifth inning, the Redhawks scored two runs back on a two-RBI double. SEMO cut the deficit down to one, 5-4, with another pair of runs in the sixth inning off an RBI single and a sac fly. From there, the Screaming Eagles slammed the door on the Redhawks’ rally in the sixth inning and closed out the win in the seventh.
Southern Indiana scored five runs on nine hits. The top three in USI’s lineup – Bedrick, Stapleton, and Gotshall – each had two hits for six of USI’s total hits. Stapleton and Gotshall each had two RBIs. Southeast Missouri totaled four runs on 11 hits.
In the pitching circle, junior pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) picked up the win, improving to 12-5 this season. Newman struck out seven in the complete-game effort.
Southeast Missouri used four pitchers in the game with senior starting pitcher Paytience Holman dropping to 7-8 on the season with the loss.
