Eastern played host to the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference softball tournament, and Southeast Missouri crashed the party.

Southeast Missouri, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, beat Eastern 4-0 Thursday and 9-1 Saturday, eliminating the Panthers. On Friday, head coach Kim Schuette’s squad eliminated No. 3 seed Tennessee-Martin, beating them 9-3 to stay alive in the tournament.

The 40-12 Eastern squad stumbled out of the gate Thursday. OVC pitcher of the year Amber May had a rough first inning. The senior righthander walked the leadoff batter and then gave up an RBI double to Southeast Missouri’s Julie Troncoso, who then advanced to third on a passed ball.

Schuette met with her infield on the mound for a time out that dragged on a bit too long for the vocal Redhawk fans’ liking. The mound was too wet from pregame preparations, Schuette said.

After the mound was taken care of, May walked the next batter, and another run scored on a passed ball, giving the Redhawks an early 2-0 lead.

Southeast Missouri would go on to score two more unearned runs, one each in the second and seventh frames, respectively.

Alora Marble, the Redhawks’ freshman righthander, held the Panthers to a .130 batting average throughout the contest. Marble allowed three hits and two walks with one strikeout.

“Marble is a good pitcher,” Schuette said. “She mixes in and out and expands the zone. She did a good job all weekend against us, but at the same time, we did not focus on the ball. You have to see the ball, watch the ball and keep watching the ball to hit it hard.”

Schuette said her team was not as focused as they should have been.

“We were nervous for that first game against SEMO on Thursday night and for some reason put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We got wrapped up in everything around the game that really has nothing to do with the game, and we forgot to focus on the little things,” Schuette said. “We forgot that no one person has to do it by themselves or be perfect; we have a strong team from top to bottom and will help each other out.”

After they lost on Thursday, Eastern faced off against No. 3 seed Tennesee-Martin.

Amber May once again got the start and played like she has for most of the season, holding the Skyhawks to a .154 batting average. May gave up two earned runs on four hits, struck out four and walked one.

The Panthers’ bats came alive against the Skyhawks, notching nine runs on 11 hits for a team batting average of .367.

Senior third baseman Kiley Holtz went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and became the program’s all-time RBI leader.

Amber May added some offense, going 2-for-3 with a three-RBI double in the sixth frame. Freshman shortstop Ashleigh Westover also went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Freshman rightfielder Morgan Biel drove a run in and drew a pair of walks. Maria Sorrentino, junior leftfielder, went 2-for-3 and crossed home plate twice.

After eliminating the Skyhawks, the Panthers played Southeast Missouri a second time for the right to play against Jacksonville State in the championship game.

The Redhawks handed Eastern its only mercy rule loss of the season. After allowing four unearned runs and a walk in 1-1/3 innings of work, Amber May was replaced by freshman righthander Stephanie Maday. Maday struck out four and gave up six hits and four runs with only one earned run.

Alora Marble pitched another complete game for the Redhawks, allowing only five hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Second baseman Carly Willert provided the only run of the day for the Panthers when she hit a home run just over the centerfield wall in the fourth inning.

Schuette’s squad tallied a .217 team batting average, but the Redhawks notched a .321 average and capitalized on the Panthers’ five errors.

Schuette said her team was hitting the ball, but right to the defenders.

“Our kids came ready to play. They were resilient, fiery, and really hit some shots off of Marble. Unfortunately, those shots were right at their players and literally jumped into their gloves,” Schuette said.

Westover and Holtz were named to the All-Tournament team. Schuette said she feels junior catcher Hailee Hanna, Westover, and Holtz did not get enough credit for the Panthers’ success this season.

“Holtz has been our rock and foundation on the infield for four years. Wes is our feisty shortstop who some people forget is just a freshman,” Schuette said. “Our pitching staff got a lot of recognition this year, which was very well deserved, but on the other end of every great pitching staff is a catcher who makes them even better and that is Hailee Hanna.”

The 2011 season has now come to an end for the Panthers, or, as Schuette put it, they simply “ran out of innings to fight back.”

Joe Long can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected]