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Box Score

MARTIN, Tenn. – After taking a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning, the Eastern Kentucky University softball team saw Murray State University score three unanswered to escape with a 3-1 win in the first round of the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Martin, Tenn.

The fifth seeded Colonels (27-29) will face third seeded Jacksonville State (26-27) in the elimination round at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.  The Gamecocks fell to No. 6 Tennessee Tech 2-1 on Thursday.

After playing the first four innings with two hits and no runs between them, the two teams combined for three runs in the fifth.  With two outs and two on, Nicole Heitz singled through the left side to bring home the first run of the game and stake EKU to a 1-0 lead.  However, the Racers answered in the bottom half of the fifth with back-to-back solo home runs by Mandi Kellerman and Sarah Anderson, the No. 7 and No. 8 batters in the line-up.

No. 4 seed Murray State (33-19) added to its lead in the sixth.  With two outs and runners at second and third, Kellerman singled to left field.  The lead runner scored but the second was thrown out at the plate by Diane Gallagher to end the inning.

Larkyn Wood led off the seventh inning with a single to get the tying run to the plate, but MSU’s Shelby Kosmecki retired the next three batters in order, including the final two on strikes.

Four different Colonels had one hit each.  Heitz finished 1-for-2 with one driven in.  Gallagher, a senior, went 1-for-4 and is now three hits away from tying Eastern’s career hits record.  Leanna Pittsenbarger (15-15) allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings of work.  She walked only one batter and struck out four.  The freshman tied the EKU single season record by making her 42nd appearance of 2012.

Kellerman finished 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.  Anderson went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI.  Kosmecki (13-11) went the distance in the circle for the Racers.  She allowed one run on four hits, walked one and struck out seven.