Southeast Missouri (11-23, 3-9 OVC)
vs. Eastern Illinois (26-10, 13-1 OVC)
Game Information
Dates: Saturday & Sunday, April 13-14, 2013
Host: Southeast Missouri State
First Pitch:
Saturday: 1:00 p.m. (doubleheader)
Sunday: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Stadium: Southeast Softball Complex
Head Coaches:
Lana Richmond (869-666-2 overall, 31st season);
Eastern Illinois: Kim Schuette (8th season)
Weather Forecast:
Saturday: sunny, high of 65°
Sunday: sunny, high of 78°
Complete Redhawks Softball Notebook
Scouting the Panthers
Eastern Illinois currently sits atop the West Division standings in the Ohio Valley Conference, coming into the weekend 13-1 in conference play and 26-10 overall. On Tuesday, the Panthers toppled in-state rival Illinois, 12-1 in five innings. As a team, EIU has the lowest ERA in the conference at 1.59 while holding batters to a league-best .182 batting average. The EIU pitching staff also holds the most strikeouts in the league with 313, 52 more strikeouts than the second most in the conference. Individual pitching performances rank Hanna Mennenga (1.30 ERA) and Stephanie Maday (1.61 ERA) first and third in the conference. They hold batters to a .160 and .196 batting average, respectively. Mennenga also tops the league in strikeouts with 218, 54 of which were caught looking. Offensively, Hannah Cole ranks third in the OVC, batting .406 with a .488 on base percentage. Carly Willert is batting .353 this season and has scored a team-high 37 runs.
Series Histories
The Redhawks and Panthers have remained competitive over the years with the Redhawks holding a slight 32-26 advantage all time against EIU. The Panthers swept the home-and-home series in 2012, winning two games in Charleston and defeating the Redhawks in Cape Girardeau 2-0 a couple weeks later. In 2011, at the OVC Championship hosted by EIU, the number one seed, the Redhawks delivered EIU their first loss of the tournament in a 4-0 shutout and went on to knock the Panthers out of the tournament with a 9-1 victory to advance to the Championship round against Jacksonville.
Last Time Out
Southeast hit the road last weekend to take on East Division opponents Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech. The Redhawks dropped all four games, losing a heartbreaker in game one against the Gamecocks in walk-off fashion. Simone Patterson hit two home runs in the contest. Jacksonville kept the momentum going in game two, defeating Southeast 13-5 in five innings. The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles swept Southeast Sunday, run-ruling the Redhawks in game one, 9-1, and shutting out Southeast, 4-0, in game two. Taylor Cowan hit a solo home run in the first game, scoring Southeast's only run of the day.
31 Years of Excellence
Lana Richmond is in her 31st season as the head coach of the Redhawks. Coach Richmond's career record at Southeast is 869-666-2. She is currently on her way to capturing her 600th NCAA Division I victory (596-526-2). The five-time Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year currently ranks 40th in victories of all NCAA division head coaches.
Up Next...
The eight-game home swing continues next weekend as the Redhawks welcome East Division rivals Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State to town. Each series will be a doubleheader beginning at noon. The home stand will conclude Tuesday, Apr. 25, when the Southern Illinois Salukis visit Cape Girardeau for a single-game matchup slated for 5 p.m.
