Morehead State (23-17, 4-8 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (17-23, 2-10 OVC)

Date: Saturday, April 22, 2017
First Pitch: 1 p.m., CT (DH)
Site: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Southeast Softball Complex
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri

Eastern Kentucky (19-23, 6-5 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (17-23, 2-10 OVC)

Date: Sunday, April 23, 2017
First Pitch: Noon, CT (DH)
Site: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Southeast Softball Complex
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Open Final Homestand
Southeast Missouri (17-23, 2-10) opens a six-game homestand when it hosts Morehead State (24-16, 4-8) Saturday and Eastern Kentucky (19-23, 6-5) Sunday. First pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is 1 p.m., CT, while Sunday's twin bill is slated to start at Noon.

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats for both of this weekend's doubleheaders are available online at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOsoftball.

Cancer Awareness Games
The Redhawks will be wearing special pink shirts to support Cancer Awareness for Saturday's doubleheader against Morehead State.

Series History
Southeast is a combined 93-51 against Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky. The Redhawks are 56-20 all-time against MSU and 37-31 against EKU.

Season Winding Down
Including this weekend, the Redhawks have 12 games left this regular-season. After its matchups with Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky, Southeast wraps up its season-long six-game homestand with a midweek doubleheader against Saint Louis (Apr. 26). After that, the Redhawks head to Tennessee State (Apr. 29), Belmont (Apr. 30) and UT Martin (May 6).
 
Senior Day Set
Southeast will honor seniors Nicole Deering, Aubrey Denno and Mackenzie Hoelting prior to its season-finale against Saint Louis on Apr. 26. First pitch of Wednesday's doubleheader is 4 p.m., CT. Deering (153), Denno (68) and Hoelting (42) have combined to play 263 games in their careers.

OVC Update
The Redhawks are looking to make a strong push heading into their final weeks of the season. Southeast is currently 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a 2-10 mark in league play. The Redhawks look to end a seven-game losing streak when Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky come to town this weekend.

Extra, Extra
Of Southeast's 304 hits this season, 89 have gone for extra bases. The Redhawks have 48 doubles, an Ohio Valley Conference leading 17 triples and 24 home runs. Eleven different players have an extra base hit this year. Freshman outfielder Rachel Anderson leads the team with nine doubles, seven triples and four home runs.

Anderson a Finalist for Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award
Outfielder Rachel Anderson is among 25 finalists for the 2017 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Award. Anderson joins Caylan Arnold (P, Tennessee), Taryn Atlee (2B, Rutgers), Maggie Balint (P, Oregon), Alyssa Barrera (OF, Utah), Sis Bates (2B, Washington), Amber Bishop (2B, Liberty), Braxton Burnside (SS, Missouri), Jenna Cone (3B, George Washington), Alyssa Denham (P, Louisiana), Rachel Garcia (P/DP, UCLA), Jessie Harper (1B, Arizona), Bailey Hemphill (DP/C, Alabama), Ryan Jackson (OF, Bethune-Cookman), Kendyl Lindaman (C, Minnesota), Mariah Lopez (P, Oklahoma), Shelby McGlaun (DP/P, Baylor), Dejah Mulipola (C, Arizona), Alyssa Palomino (OF, Arizona), McKenna Partain (2B, Minnesota), Brittany Pickett (P/1B, North Carolina), Linda Rush (SS, Drexel), Takesha Saltern (OF, Weber State), Olivia Tamewitz (OF, Kennesaw State) and Sami Williams (2B, Iowa State) as the nation's top freshmen.

Rookie Sensation
Rachel Anderson is having a stellar rookie campaign. In 40 starts, Anderson leads the Redhawks in batting average, hits (51), doubles (9), triples (7), home runs (4), RBIs (26), total bases (86), slugging percentage (.705), on-base percentage (.486), fielding percentage (.983), multiple-hit games (19) and multi-RBI performances (8). In the Ohio Valley Conference, Anderson ranks among the top-five individuals in batting average (3rd), slugging percentage (3rd), on-base percentage (5th), hits (4th), triples (1st) and total bases (2nd). She ranks third in the nation in triples and fourth in triples per game (0.18), as well.

Over .400
Rachel Anderson hit over .400 as Southeast's top hitter all season. Anderson currently has the highest batting average among freshmen in the Ohio Valley Conference with a .418 clip. Murray State's Brenna Finck is behind her with a .410 batting average. The Redhawks last player to hit over .400 in a season was Savannah Carpenter (.424) in 2014.

Tough to Strikeout
Freshman Rachel Anderson has struck out only 10 times in 122 at-bats this season. Anderson has gone eight-straight games and 24-consecutive at-bats without striking out. She did not strike out in 32 of her 40 starts in 2017.

Newcomer Package
All five of the Redhawks hitting over .300 this season are newcomers. Freshman Rachel Anderson (.418) paves the way, while freshman Brooke Rheinecker (.358), transfer Mykaela Arellanes (.333) and freshmen Madison Harris (.328) and Addison Barnouski (.312) round out that group. Anderson, Harris, Arellanes, Rheinecker and Barnouski have combined for 11 of Southeast's 24 home runs.

100 Career Games
Four players have seen action in over 100 games during their Southeast careers. Nicole Deering (153), Claire Wernig (121), Darby Pruett (109) and Riley Hayes (104) form that group. Wernig leads the team with 94 career starts.

Start Me Up
Sophomore shortstop Sarah Messex started every game of her Southeast career to date. Messex enters the weekend with a streak of 89 consecutive starts. She has the longest games started streak of any Redhawk and is one of two players on this year's team to start every contest. Rachel Anderson is the other. Messex also boasts a streak of 39-consecutive starts in Ohio Valley Conference play.

League Play
Mykaela Arellanes and Claudia Gallo are presently the Redhawks top hitters in Ohio Valley Conference games only. Arellanes and Gallo are both hitting .368 through 12 league contests.

Nice Work
Freshman Rachel Anderson ranks third in the nation with seven triples through 40 games. Anderson's seven triples are the most in a season by a Southeast player since Kelsey White had seven in 55 games during the 2000 campaign. As a team, the Redhawks are sixth among NCAA Division I teams in triples per game (0.43).

Triple Time
Southeast is first in the Ohio Valley Conference and third the nation with 17 triples this season. The Redhawks had just seven triples in 49 games a year ago. The 2017 Redhawks rank ninth all-time in school history for most triples in a season.

Stolen Bases
Southeast has accumulated 48 stolen bases this year, the second-most in a season under head coach Mark Redburn. The Redhawks 58 stolen bases a year ago stand as the most during Redburn's tenure. Mykaela Arellanes and Rachel Anderson lead the team in that category with 14 and 10 stolen bases, respectively.

About Morehead State
Morehead State is one spot ahead of Southeast at ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. MSU comes to Cape Girardeau after dropping six of its last nine contests. Allison Rager ranks fifth in the league in batting average (.385) as the Eagles top offensive threat. Rager also leads MSU in runs scored (26), hits (47), triples (2), RBIs (34), total bases (83) and on-base percentage (.444) this year. Chelsea McManaway is the Eagles top pitcher with a 13-8 record and 1.74 ERA. McManaway has more wins than the rest of MSU's pitching staff combined (10).

About Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Kentucky heads into the weekend occupying seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. EKU heated up to win five of its last six games and carries a four-game winning streak to Cape Girardeau. Rachel Minogue leads the conference with a .425 batting average through 42 starts. Paige Murphy, this week's OVC Player of the Week, follows with a .406 clip. Murphy hit .583 for with a home run, triple, double, five RBIs and five runs scored a week ago. She raised her batting average to .471 in OVC play.