Eastern Illinois (17-15, 3-1 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (15-14, 0-4 OVC)

Date: Saturday, April 1, 2017
First Pitch: 1 p.m., CT (DH)
Site: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Southeast Softball Complex
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
Video: OVC Digital Network
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Host Eastern Illinois in Home-Opener
Southeast Missouri (15-14, 0-4) hosts Eastern Illinois (17-15, 3-1) in its home-opener Saturday. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 1 p.m., CT, at the Southeast Softball Complex.

Follow the Redhawks
Video for Saturday's doubleheader is available online at the OVC Digital Network. Live stats can be accessed at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOsoftball.

Home-Openers
The Redhawks own a 19-6 record in home-openers since moving to the NCAA Division I level in 1992. Southeast is 137-129 (.515) all-time at the Southeast Softball Complex.

Home At Last
Southeast played its first 29 games of the 2017 season outside of Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks are 5-6 in true road games and 10-8 in games played at neutral sites this year. Southeast has all 13 of its home games in April.

Looking to Regroup
The Redhawks enter the weekend on a season-long seven-game losing streak. Southeast, which has dropped nine of its last 10 contests, lost five one-run games in that span. The seven-game skid is currently the longest losing streak in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Halfway Point
Southeast has an overall record of 15-14 halfway through its 2017 season. The Redhawks have one tournament victory (Jackson State Tournament, Feb. 11-12) and one series win (at Alcorn State, Feb. 25) this year.

Last Time Out
The Redhawks went 0-4 during the opening weekend of Ohio Valley Conference play losing doubleheaders on the road at Tennessee Tech (Mar. 25) and preseason-favorite Jacksonville State (Mar. 26). Southeast struck out a season-high 16 times in its 3-2 game one loss to the Golden Eagles. The Redhawks then dropped another 3-2 decision to TTU before falling, 3-0 and 9-5, to JSU. Southeast is winless through its first four games of OVC play for the first time since 2002.

Yard Work
Ten different players have homered for Southeast this season. Rachel Anderson (4), Addison Barnouski (2), Sarah Messex (2), Parker Bandy (2), Mykaela Arellanes (2), Abby Tillotson (3) and Darby Pruett (2) homered multiple times, while Ashley Ellis, Riley Hayes and Madison Harris have one each. The Redhawks have homered in 15 games and have a total of 20 round-trippers this year.

100 Career Games
Nicole Deering (145) and Claire Wernig (109) have played in over 100 games during their Southeast careers. Riley Hayes and Darby Pruett are next closest to the 100-game mark with 98 and 97 contests, respectively. Pitching wise, Madeline Krumrey has appeared in 78 career games.

Game One Starter
Southeast has had a different game one starting pitcher for each of its first three doubleheaders series this season. Madeline Krumrey started game one at Alcorn State (Feb. 25), Alexis Estes made her first career Ohio Valley Conference start at Tennessee Tech (Mar. 25) and Mackenzie Hoelting started game one at Jacksonville State (Mar. 26). Six different pitchers have seen action for the Redhawks this season with Krumrey (16 appearances, 15 starts), Estes (18 appearances, 8 starts) and Hoelting (11 appearances, 2 starts) handling the bulk of the work.

Strong Out of the Pen
Left-hander Mackenzie Hoelting pitched 5.2 scoreless innings in relief at Tennessee Tech (Mar. 25). Hoelting allowed just two hits, struck out a season-high four and did not give up a walk. A day later, she worked six innings in her second career Ohio Valley Conference start at Jacksonville State. It was Hoelting's longest outing in 11 games and two starts this year.

Rookie Sensation
Freshman center fielder Rachel Anderson is off to an outstanding start in her first season at Southeast. Anderson enters the weekend second in the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average with a .433 clip. She leads the league in triples (7) and ranks third in slugging percentage (.789), fifth in on-base percentage (.495), tied for fourth in hits (39) and tied for second in total bases (71). Anderson leads the Redhawks with 14 multiiple-hit games and six multi-RBI contests this year. She leads the nation in triples and ranks 33rd in slugging percentage.

OVC Openers
Southeast fell to 16-10 all-time in Ohio Valley Conference openers with its 3-2 loss to Tennessee Tech (Mar. 25). The Redhawks won their OVC opener in five of the last seven seasons. Southeast opened league play against TTU for the first time in 2017.  

Nice Work
Freshman Rachel Anderson leads the nation and is first in the Ohio Valley Conference with seven triples through 29 games. Anderson's seven triples are the most in a season since Kelsey White had seven in 55 games during the 2000 campaign.

Triple Time
Southeast is first in the Ohio Valley Conference and tied for third the nation with 13 triples this season. The Redhawks had just seven triples in 49 games last season. The 2017 Redhawks are two triples away from cracking the school's top 10 list for most triples in a season.

Start Me Up
Sophomore shortstop Sarah Messex started every game of her Southeast career to date. Messex enters the weekend with a streak of 78 consecutive starts. She has the longest games started streak of any Redhawk and is one of three players on this year's team to start every contest. Rachel Anderson and Mykaela Arellanes are the others.  

Double-Digit Hits
The Redhawks registered 10 or more hits a total of 10 times this season and are 8-2 in those contests. Southeast pounded out a season-high 18 hits vs. Jarvis Christian College on Feb. 11. As a team, the Redhawks are fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference hitting .304.

Pulling Rank
Southeast ranks among the top five Ohio Valley Conference teams in batting average (5th, .304), slugging percentage (4th, .467), on-base percentage (3rd, .381), doubles (5th, 41), triples (1st, 13), RBIs (5th, 127), total bases (5th, 363) and walks (3rd, 90).

Much Improved
After going 16-33 overall and not making the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament last season, Southeast is currently 14-6 this year. The Redhawks went 14-5 in their first 19 games, their best start under third-year head coach Mark Redburn.

Up Next
The Redhawks step outside of Ohio Valley Conference play for a doubleheader at Missouri on Apr. 5. Southeast then hosts Austin Peay (Apr. 8) and Murray State (Apr. 9).