John Cropp Classic
 
Dates: Saturday-Sunday, March 3-4, 2018
Site: Lexington, Ky.
Facility: John Cropp Stadium
Series Records: vs. Kentucky (2-0); vs. Ohio (0-1)

Tournament Schedule
Saturday, Mar. 3
vs. Ohio University, 10 a.m., CT | Live Stats
at #22 Kentucky, 3 p.m., CT | Video | Live Stats

Sunday, Mar. 4
vs. Ohio University, 9 a.m., CT | Live Stats
at #22 Kentucky, 11:30 a.m., CT | Video | Live Stats

Follow @SEMOsoftball | Southeast Missouri Notes
 
Redhawks Head to John Cropp Classic
Southeast Missouri (7-4) will participate in the John Cropp Classic hosted by #22 Kentucky (9-3) this weekend. The Redhawks face Kentucky and Ohio University on Saturday and Sunday.

Follow the Redhawks
Video for both of the Redhawks games against #22 Kentucky is available online at ESPN3, WatchESPN and SEC Network+. Dave Baker and Dorian Craft will call the action for those contests. Live stats can be accessed at UKAthletics.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOsoftball.

Tournament Field
Southeast, #22 Kentucky and Mid-American Conference member Ohio University form this year's field for the 2018 John Cropp Classic. All games will be played at John Cropp Stadium.

Series Records
The Redhawks are a combined 2-1 against teams at this weekend's John Cropp Classic. Southeast is 2-0 all-time against Kentucky and 0-1 against Ohio University. The Redhawks beat the Wildcats in both 1998 (9-6) and 2001 (1-0), and fell to the Bobcats in 1999 (2-0).

Tournament Play
This weekend's John Cropp Classic marks thre third tournament Southeast participates in this season. The Redhawks recently finished second at the Chattanooga Frost Classic (Feb. 23-25) with a 5-1 record. Southeast beat Evansville (9-0), Alabama State (14-1), IUPUI (7-0), Western Michigan (8-7) and Western Illinois (2-1) during its strong three-day event. Fellow Ohio Valley Conference member Eastern Illinois won the tournament with a 6-0 record.

Strong Start
Southeast is 7-4 through its first 11 games of the 2018 season. The Redhawks are off to their second-best start under head coach Mark Redburn. Last year, Southeast began the year with a 9-2 record through its first 11 contests. The Redhawks posted a winning record through their first 11 games of a season in back-to-back years for the first time since 1995 (8-3) and 1996 (11-0).

Seven Wins
The Redhawks seven wins in 2018 are currently tied for third-most in the Ohio Valley Conference. Eastern Illinois leads the league with an overall record of 12-3. Morehead State is second with a 8-4 mark. Belmont (7-2), Southeast (7-4) and Eastern Kentucky (7-5) follow with seven victories each.

Big Weekend for Ellis
Ashley Ellis helped lead Southeast to a 5-1 record at the Chattanooga Frost Classic (Feb. 23-25). Ellis was clutch in the Redhawks final two games of the tournament, both one-run victories. She hit a two-run home run to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth inning against Western Michigan. Two innings later, Ellis hit a walkoff home run to give Southeast the win in the bottom of the seventh. She went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two home runs and three RBI against the Broncos. Ellis then delivered the RBI-single in the top of the seventh inning that scored the game-winning run in SEMO's 2-1 win over Western Illinois. For the tournament, Ellis hit .333 with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and six RBI. She also had a .778 slugging percentage and .455 on-base percentage. Ellis hit safely in four of the Redhawks six games in the tournament.

Atop the OVC
Southeast Missouri enters the weekend ranked first in the Ohio Valley Conference in slugging percentage (.467) and triples (6). Mykaela Arellanes leads the league with a .467 batting average through 11 starts.

Arellanes Goes Off
Outfielder Mykaela Arellanes hit .643 (9-for-14) with four runs scored, two doubles, a triple and five runs batted in at the Chattanooga Frost Classic (Feb. 23-25). Arellanes hit safely in all six games and registered multiple hits on three occasions. She is on a team-best six-game hitting streak and raised her batting average to a team-high .467 this season.

Two Shutouts
Alexis Estes and Haley Thogmartin combined for a 9-0 shutout against Evansville (Feb. 23), Southeast's first of the season. Estes allowed just two hits and struck out five in four innings, while Thogmartin struck out two in two frames. Neither Estes or Thogmartin allowed a walk. Estes and Thogmartin teamed up again to shutout IUPUI (Feb. 23), 7-0. Estes scattered three hits, struck out one and walked one in 4.2 innings. Meanwhile, Thogmartin allowed two hits, struck out two and walked none in 2.1 innings.

Undefeated Estes
For the second-straight season, pitcher Alexis Estes is 3-0 through her first three starts. Estes enters the weekend at 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA and eight strikeouts in 15.1 innings over six appearances and three starts. Estes began the 2017 campaign at 5-0 inside the circle.

Nice Defense
Southeast has gone five-straight games and six of its last seven contests without committing an error. The Redhawks rank second in the Ohio Valley Conference and 18th in the nation with a .978 fielding percentage.

Anderson Joins Career Triples Leaders
Sophomore center fielder Rachel Anderson already has 11 triples in her career at Southeast. Anderson leads the Ohio Valley Conference and ranks sixth in the nation with three this season. She is tied for fifth all-time in school history in that category.

Home Run Time
The Redhawks are tied for fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference with eight home runs this season. Seven of those home runs have come in Southeast's last five contests. Sarah Messex, Ashley Ellis and Addison Barnouski lead the team with two home runs each. Rachel Anderson and Abby Tillotson have also homered for the Redhawks this year.

Road to 300 Strikeouts
Starting pitcher Madeline Krumrey is 16 strikeouts away from reaching 300 in her career. Krumrey presently has 284 strikeouts. She ranks seventh all-time among the school's career leaders in that category. Elaine Fisher (2005-08), Southeast's career strikeout leader, was the last to get 300 or more strikeouts. Fisher finished her career with 510.

110 and Counting
Sarah Messex has started 110 consecutive games. Messex, who has not missed a start in her Southeast career, logged the most starts of any Redhawk on this year's team.

Away from Home
Southeast plays away from Cape Girardeau for its first 18 games of the 2018 season. The Redhawks played five games at the Northern Iowa Dome Classic (Feb. 9-11) and six games at the Chattanooga Frost Classic (Feb. 23-25). After playing four matchups at this weekend's John Cropp Classic in Lexington, Kentucky, Southeast hits the road for a three-game series at Creighton (Mar. 9-10). The Redhawks do not play at home until Mar. 13 when they host Indiana State in a doubleheader.