The Lady Toppers rode their bats Thursday to a 10-3 win over Southeast Missouri at the WKU Softball Complex.

Sophomore pitcher Janna Scheff was credited with the win after over four innings of work. Scheff allowed three runs on six hits.

Southeast Missouri came out strong in the first inning, scoring two runs on three hits, one hit coming off a solo home run.

WKU (16-9) responded in the bottom of the first as a walk brought in junior infielder Olivia Watkins from third base. Senior utility player Ciara Garcia went on bring in three more runs with a double to left center.

The Lady Toppers scored four runs on three hits in the inning.

“Our team feeds off of energy and we have great team chemistry,” Watkins said. “We’re just always excited when someone gets a hit.”

WKU continued to add to the lead in the bottom of the second as junior infielder Amanda Thomas blasted a three-run home run over the fence.

Thomas currently leads WKU with seven home runs on the season.

Junior outfielder Keslie Mattox followed Thomas with a home run of her own to make the score 8-2.

Southeast Missouri responded in the top of the third with another solo home run to cut the WKU lead to 8-3.

With bases loaded for Southeast Missouri in the top of the fifth, junior pitcher Emily Rousseau came in for WKU to try and get the Lady Toppers out of a jam. Southeast Missouri left three on base as a Rousseau strikeout ended the threat. Rousseau allowed no hits or runs in her 2.2 innings of work.

“I just came in relaxed,” Rousseau said. “I actually haven’t thrown in a game in almost a week so just kind of getting back into it today and working some of the kinks out.”

Coach Tyra Perry said it’s nice to see Rousseau improve.

“She’s steadily getting better and better,” Perry said. “And she still has a lot of potential…I can’t wait to see when she really reaches her stride.”

In the bottom of the fifth, sophomore infielder Shawna Sadler recorded a triple, then scored off an RBI from freshman infielder Brooke Holloway. WKU is third in the nation in triples per game with .48.

After stealing second and third base, Watkins scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning off a Mattox RBI to give WKU the win, 10-3.

The Lady Toppers host a doubleheader on Saturday as they welcome North Texas. The first game is at 1 p.m.

Perry said the win against Southeast Missouri is a positive heading into the weekend.

“We just need to have the momentum that we grabbed today in the SEMO game,” Perry said. “And take it into the weekend and play our game.”