Ohio Valley Conference

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PEORIA, Ill. -  Madison Winkler went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, a double and three RBI and #3 Southeast Missouri (27-18) pounded out 11 hits in a 7-2 victory over #7 Tennessee Tech (21-35) Friday at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
 
SEMO knocked TTU out of the tournament, which is now down to the top three seeds.
 
TTU notched the game's first run in the bottom of the first inning when Abby Shoulders hit Delaney Kell's second pitch for a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly by Abbee Kleinfelter.
 
SEMO answered quickly to get its first lead in the top of the second.
 
Brittany Affolter walked to ignite a one-out surge. Tatum Gerwitz followed with a single through the left side and Winkler doubled off the wall in left center to score Affolter. Sydney Dennis knocked in Gerwitz on a sacrifice fly and Sydney Melton doubled down the left field line to score Winkler giving the Redhawks a 3-1 advantage.
 
After TTU made it a one-run game in the bottom of the third, SEMO countered with two more runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to pull away.
 
In the fourth, Melton knocked in two runs on her second double of the game at the end of a stretch of three-straight two-out hits for the Redhawks.
 
Then, in the fifth, Winkler picked up her third hit on a two-out single that scored Affolter and pinch-hitter Kinley Wilkins to extend SEMO's lead to 7-2.
 
Kell (10-4) claimed her 10th win of the season in another strong complete game effort. She allowed only two runs on four hits, struck out one and walked none.
 
Kell recorded nine ground ball outs and 10 fly ball outs along the way. It marked her team-high seventh complete game of the year and second time in her career where she won 10 or more games.
 
Winkler collected her third three-hit game of the season and finished with three RBIs for the second time. Melton and Dennis added two hits each. Melton was 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI, while Dennis went 2-for-3 with a run scored and one RBI.
 
SEMO went 4-1 against TTU during the 2025 campaign.

#1 EASTERN ILLINOIS 5, #2 SIUE 4 (10)
PEORIA, Ill. - Karson Davey moved from first to third in the bottom of the 10th inning on a bunt Briana Gonzalez.  She came home on a ground ball hit by Morgan Hance as the Panthers picked up a 5-4 win over SIUE to advance to the championship game of the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Peoria, Illinois.

SIUE struck first in the back-and-forth contest with two unearned runs in the top of the third with Emma Henderson driving in the first Cougars run with a sacrifice fly.  Lauryn Yslava followed with an RBI double, one of her two hits in the game.

EIU answered in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run home run by Abbi Hatton to straight away centerfield scoring Sophia Olman.

In the top of the ninth, SIUE again jumped out to a two-run lead with a Raegan Duncan RBI double followed by an infield single by Kaylynn Salyars,  Salyars had three hits to lead SIUE, Duncan added two.

The Panthers rallied once again in the bottom of the ninth as Olman and Hatton both reached to open the inning, moving to third on a ground out by Sophie Cerveny.  Abbey Crain delivered an RBI single up the middle for the first EIU run with a Kendall Grover sacrifice fly tying the game at 4-4.  Crain was the lone EIU player with two hits while Olman scored two of EIU's five runs.

Both teams starting pitchers gave way to the bullpen in the tenth as McKenzie Oslanzi worked nine innings for EIU and Avery Arwood countered with nine for the Cougars.

In the top of the tenth Karlie McKenzie pitched a scoreless frame and earned her tenth win of the season when the Panthers won it in the bottom of the tenth.  McKenzie improved to 10-3 as EIU improved to 33-19.

Kiana Villa (6-1) suffered the loss as the Cougars dropped to 30-21.

#2 SIUE 6, #3 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3
PEORIA, Ill. - SIUE softball advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference Championships title game Friday night by bouncing Southeast Missouri from the tournament.

SIUE dropped its first game of the day 5-4 in 10 innings against Eastern Illinois and rebounded for a 6-3 victory over Southeast Missouri in an elimination game.

The Cougars, 31-21, now must face No. 1 seed Eastern Illinois, 33-19, in a rematch. In the double-elimination tournament, SIUE will need two wins Saturday over Eastern Illinois for the OVC title. Game one of the finals is scheduled for 11 a.m. Game two, if necessary, follows game one.

McKayla Anderson went the distance against Southeast Missouri to earn her seventh victory of the season.

Emma Henderson blasted her 13th home run of the season in the game, breaking the SIUE single-season record for homers during the Division I era. Her home run tied the game in the third inning. Lauryn Yslava would later steal home in the inning to put the Cougars ahead for good.

SIUE's offense against SEMO featured seven hits, including an RBI triple by Danielle Shuey in the fourth, and an RBI double by Kaylin Fahy in the fifth.

The Cougars were forced into the consolation bracket after dropping the winner's bracket contest against Eastern Illinois. The Panthers outlasted the Cougars 5-4 in 10 innings. It was SIUE's third game this season that went 10 innings or longer.

Morgan Hance's ground ball scored Karson Davey in the bottom of the 10th to give the Panthers the extra-inning victory.

Avery Arwood went nine innings for the Cougars and did not figure in the decision. Kiana Villa took over in the 10th inning and suffered the loss.

SIUE took a 2-0 lead in the game on a sacrifice fly by Emma Henderson and an RBI double by Lauryn Yslava. After EIU countered with a two-run homer in the fourth, there was no more scoring until the ninth.

Raegan Duncan provided an RBI double in the ninth that put the Cougars up 3-2. Kaylynn Salyars then reached on an infield single that drove home Duncan.

With a 4-2 lead, the Panthers matched it with two runs in the ninth only to add the game winner in the 10th.