SEMO softball drops road series to Southern Indiana

Southeast Missouri State second baseman Sydney Dennis throws to first base against Tennessee State on Sunday, March 24, at the Southeast Softball Complex.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Following a successful weekend at home last weekend against Tennessee State, the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks hit the road to do battle with the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles.

Ultimately, it was the Screaming Eagles taking the three-game set after the two clubs split the doubleheader on Friday.

Game 1: USI 2, SEMO 1

In game one, a two-run third inning was the difference as USI squeaked out a 2-1 win.

The scoring opened in the third when Paytience Holman hit a USI batter with the bases loaded to make it 1-0 Screaming Eagles.

The next batter singled home a run, expanding the lead to 2-0.

Despite trailing by two, the Redhawks had some fight left in them.

In the top half of the fifth, Sydney Dennis doubled home Tatum Gerwitz to cut the lead in half and give the Redhawks some life.

SEMO was unable to scratch across the tying run and they fell 2-1 in game one.

Getting the loss was Holman, who pitched just three innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out three.

Game 2. SEMO 6, USI 0

The second game of the double header went much differently for the Redhawks as they claimed a 6-0 win.

SEMO got ahead early and didn’t look back as they took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly by Paige Halliwill.

The inning that seemingly put the game away however was the top of the third as the Redhawks scored three runs on a single by Kat Sackett, a double from Aubrey Shore and a walk by Zoe Schulte.

In the fifth, Tori Bradley singled home a run and a double steal allowed Sydney Dennis to steal home to push the lead to 6-0, the eventual final.

In the circle for game two for the Redhawks was Madie Carney who threw six innings, allowing no runs on four hits while striking out three.

Game 3: USI 5, SEMO 4

Chasing a series win in game three, the Redhawks found themselves trailing after two innings and they couldn’t complete a ferocious comeback.

USI led 5-0 after two innings as Paytience Holman didn’t make it out of the first inning as she recorded just one out while allowing two earned runs on three hits.

Tegan Livesay took over in relief allowing three runs (one earned), on four hits in 1.1 innings of work.

Although trailing 5-0, a two-run double from Marissa Peek brought home a pair of runs to make it 5-2 in the top of the fifth.

In the Redhawks’ next at-bat in the sixth inning, Abigail Rickermann singled home a run and Aubrey Shore hit a sacrifice fly to move the Redhawks within a run as they trailed 5-4 entering the final inning.

A one out walk yielded a base runner for the Redhawks in the seventh, but they couldn’t manage to scratch the tying run across as they fell 5-4.

SEMO (12-20, 7-5 OVC) will be back in action for a midweek doubleheader at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3, when the Redhawks travel north to take on #12 Missouri.