Kansas City (3-7) vs. Southeast Missouri (8-1)

Date: Saturday-Sunday, February 29-March 1, 2020
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Southeast Softball Complex
Series History: SEMO leads, 9-4
Last Meeting: SEMO 8, Kansas City 2 (Mar. 9, 2019 | Lawrence, Kan.)

Series Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 29 - 4 p.m., CT 
Sunday, Mar. 1 - 10:30 a.m., CT (DH)

Media Coverage 
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Twitter: @SEMOsoftball
Southeast Missouri Notes

Redhawks Host Kansas City
Southeast Missouri (8-1) plays host to Kansas City (3-7) in its home-opener this weekend. The Redhawks and Kangaroos play a single game at 4 p.m., CT, Saturday and a doubleheader at 10:30 a.m., CT, Sunday.

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats for this weekend's series against Kansas City will be available online at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOsoftball.

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Kansas City (formerly UMKC) meet for the 14th time Saturday. SEMO holds a 9-4 lead in the all-time series. The Redhawks defeated the Kangaroos in each of the last five meetings between the team, all at neutral sites. Kansas City comes to Cape Girardeau for just the second time and makes its first visit to the Southeast Softball Complex in 15 years.  

Red-Hot Redhawks
The Redhawks carry an eight-game winning streak into this weekend's series against Kansas City. Southeast Missouri's only loss was in its season-opener against Kennesaw State at the Troy University Tournament on Feb. 14. SEMO and Eastern Kentucky are both on eight-game winning streaks, currently the longest in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Team 44
The 2020 campaign is the 44th season of the Southeast Missouri softball program. This year also marks the 29th season at the NCAA Division I level. SEMO's softball program has an all-time record of  1,116-919-3. The Redhawks are 756-696-2 all-time since moving to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992.

Home-Openers
Southeast Missouri is 21-7 all-time in home-openers since moving to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992. The Redhawks are 4-1 in home-openers under head coach Mark Redburn. SEMO holds an overall record of 164-142 at the Southeast Softball Complex. The Redhawks finished the 2019 season with a 10-3 record on their home field.

Earliest Home-Opener
The Feb. 29 date against Kansas City is the earliest Southeast Missouri plays a home-opener in its program history. SEMO has hosted a home opener as early as the beginning of March, but never in February. 

Stinger Classic Recap
The Redhawks went undefeated with a 5-0 record at the Alabama State Stinger Classic on Feb. 21-23. Southeast Missouri outscored its opponents, 37-7, for the tournament. SEMO beat South Carolina State twice, tournament host Alabama State, Grambling State and Howard University at this year's event.

Familiar Face
First-year Kansas City head coach Kerry Shaw spent the 2015 season as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri under Mark Redburn. At the time, it was Shaw's first NCAA Division I coaching job. 

Rook Claims OVC PItcher of the Week
Junior Rachel Rook was named Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 24. Rook, who hails from Republic, Missouri, won the second OVC Pitcher of the Week honor in her career. She went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three appearances and two starts at the Alabama State Stinger Classic, her first action of the season. Rook tossed a complete game shutout with a career-high 13 strikeouts against South Carolina State (Feb. 23). She allowed only one walk and three hits in 14 scoreless innings. For the week, Rook recorded 23 strikeouts. UT Martin infielder Aalia Bivens was the week's OVC Player of the Week honoree.

Bombs Away
Ashley Ellis is one of 27 Division I players with six or more home runs this season. Ellis homered in five of her first nine games of 2020. She hit a home run in four-straight contests from Feb. 14-21. Ellis leads the Ohio Valley Conference in home runs. Charlotte's Bailey Vannoy leads the nation with nine total  round-trippers and Ellis is first in the country in home runs per game (0.67). 

Moving Up
Ashley Ellis moved to second on Southeast Missouri's all-time career home run list. Elllis, who has 32 career home runs, surpassed Megan McDonald (31, 2005-08) for the number two spot. Michelle Summers (2005-08) holds the all-time record with 48 home runs.

More Movement for Anderson
Rachel Anderson is now second in both career runs scored (135) and stolen bases (54) at Southeast Missouri. Anderson moved to second on both of those lists at last week's Alabama State Stinger Classic. She holds SEMO's career records in batting average (.420), slugging percentage (.719), on-base percentage (.507) and triples (27).

Scoring Runs
The Redhawks have scored 77 runs through nine games this season for an average of 8.6 per contest. Southeast Missouri has scored 12 or more runs on four occasions with a season-high 16 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (Feb. 14) and South Carolina State (Feb. 21). SEMO ranks fourth in the nation scoring. Last year, the Redhawks scored a single-season school record 363 runs.

Triple Time 
Southeast Missouri already has 10 triples this season. SEMO leads the Ohio Valley Conference in triples and ranks second in the nation with 1.1 triples per game. Seven different players have tripled for the Redhawks this year, including Rachel Anderson (3), Madison Harris (2), Austine Pauley (1), Kaylee Anderson (1), Addison Barnouski (1), Ashley Emert (1) and Keira Hance (1). SIU Edwardsville is the next closest OVC team to SEMO with six triples. 

Five to Go
Mark Redburn is five wins away from reaching 150 at Southeast Missouri. Redburn is 145-126 (.535) in six years at the helm. For his career, Redburn is 359-375 in 16 years as a head coach.

Solid February 
The Redhawks wrap up their first month of the season when they take the field against Kansas City Saturday. Southeast Missouri hit an Ohio Valley Conference best .345 and leads the league in slugging percentage (.591), on-base percentage (.455), triples (10) and opposing batting average (.210) over its first nine games of the year. The Redhawks are among the top 10 national leaders in scoring (4th, 8.5 rpg), triples per game (2nd, 1.1), stolen bases per game (5th, 2.78), slugging percentage (6th, .591) and win-loss percentage (7th, .889).

Three Shutouts
Southeast Missouri has shut out three opponents this season. The Redhawks beat Southern Mississippi, 7-0, on Feb. 15, Howard, 3-0, on Feb. 22, and South Carolina State, 2-0, on Feb. 23. Two of those shutouts have come in SEMO's last three games.

Starting Streaks
Two Redhawks have starting streaks over 100 games. Rachel Anderson, who never missed a start in her career, has started 176 consecutive games. Ashley Ellis has started 156 straight contests.

National Leader
Southeast Missouri has a player leading the nation in three statistical categories this season. Ashley Ellis is first in home runs per game (0.67), Rachel Rook is first in ERA (0.00) and Rachel Anderson is first in toughest to strikeout. Anderson has not struck out in 26 at-bats this year.

About Kansas City
Kansas City is 3-7 overall under first-year head coach Kerry Shaw. The Kangaroos went 1-4 at the Hawai'i Invitational on Feb. 21-23. Two of Kansas City's three wins this season have come against Stephen F. Austin. Delainey Fenoglio and Ashlynn Williams are the Kangaroos top two hitters with .389 and .385 batting averages, respectively.