Road split with Austin Peay sees Southeast Missouri State softball reach 20 wins on the season

A day after dropping a heartbreaker at Southern Illinois, the Southeast Missouri State softball team returned to conference play with a split of a road doubleheader at Austin Peay.

The Redhawks dropped the opener to the Governors, 5-2, before bouncing back to claim the nightcap and their 20th win of the season, 11-2, in a battle between two teams currently in the middle of the Ohio Valley Conference pack.

Southeast (20-13 overall, 4-2 OVC) took a 3-0 lead in Game 2, but Austin Peay (22-11, 6-2) charged back with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third to cut the gap to 3-2.

The rest of the game was all Redhawks, though, as Abby Tillotson launched a home run to left field in the top of the fourth for a 4-2 edge and SEMO continued to extend its lead the rest of the way.

Parker Bandy had an RBI double in a seven-run fifth inning that broke the game open and also featured a two-RBI base hit by Rachel Anderson, who was 2-for-2 with a triple, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored.

By the time Randi Dae Conway hit a run-scoring double to center to cap the inning's scoring, Southeast had pushed the gap to 11-2.

Conway was 1-for-2 with an RBI, two runs scored and a walk.

Tillotson finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two driven in; Brooke Rheinecker added a double for SEMO.

Haley Thogmartin (6-5) got the win in the pitcher's circle, allowing just two hits in 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs, striking out seven and walking three. Rachel Rook threw 2/3 of an inning in relief.

Danielle Liermann hit a two-run home run for APSU, while Kelly Mardones took the pitching loss, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits in four innings, with a strikeout and a walk.

Anderson's three-bagger was the 13th triple of her young career, moving her into a three-way tie for second in program history. The school record is 18.

The Govs struck first in the opening contest and never looked back, getting a solo homer from Carly Mattson in the bottom of the second and then scoring four runs in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead.

SEMO grabbed a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, as Ashley Ellis and Sarah Messex opened the inning with back-to-back hits. Pinch runner Madison Harris later scored on a passed ball before a triple by Bandy brought Messex around.

But the Redhawks could not find any more runs against APSU's Morgan Rackel (11-5), who allowed just the two runs on five hits in a complete-game effort, striking out five batters and walking one.

Madeline Krumrey suffered the loss in the circle for Southeast, allowing five runs (one earned) on 11 hits in five innings, with three walks and a strikeout. Alexis Estes threw one scoreless inning in relief.

Bandy was 2-for-3 with a run driven in for the Redhawks.

Five different Governors had two hits on the day, led by a 2-for-3, three-RBI performance by Mattson.

— From staff report