Southern Illinois (23-5) vs. Southeast Missouri (14-10)

Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2021
First Pitch: 3 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
Facility: Southeast Softball Complex 
Series: SIU leads, 71-23-1
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (377-389 overall; 163-140 at SEMO. Kerri Blaylock (731-396-1 overall; 731-396-1 at SIU).
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com

Longtime Rivals Close Out Home-and-Home Series
Longtime rivals Southeast Missouri (14-10) and Southern Illinois (23-5) close out a home-and-home series Wednesday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m., CT at the Southeast Softball Complex.

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats for Wednesday's game will be available online at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOsoftball.

Series History
Wednesday marks the 96th meeting between Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. The Salukis won the first matchup between these teams this season, 6-2, on Mar. 16 in Carbondale.

Redhawks are Rolling
The Redhawks are currently on a seven-game winning streak and have heated up to win 11 of their last 12 contests. Southeast Missouri is coming off three-straight series sweeps after taking three games on the road at both Tennessee Tech (Mar. 12-13) and Belmont (Mar. 20-21), and three at home vs. Morehead State (Mar. 26-27). The Redhawks have won 10 in a row against Ohio Valley Conference foes and are presently on the longest winning streak in conference games of any league opponent. SEMO's 11-1 OVC start is its best with Mark Redburn at the helm.

OVC Leader
Southeast Missouri is atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings with an overall record of 14-10 and 11-1 in conference play. SEMO and Murray State (11-3) each have 11 league wins thus far. Eastern Kentucky (10-4) is the other OVC team with 10 or more conference victories.

Getting On Base
Jillian Anderson, Rachel Anderson and Katie Dreiling have each reached base in 14-straight games. All of their reach bases streaks started vs. Austin Peay on Mar. 5.

One Run to Go
Rachel Anderson who broke her fourth Southeast Missouri career record of the season -- total bases vs. Morehead State -- is one run away from breaking the program's all-time record in runs scored. Anderson (161 runs) presently stands tied for first with Michelle Summers (2005-08) on that list.  

Approaching 10 Wins
Rachel Rook is coming up on 10 wins in the circle. At 9-5, Rook through 17 appearances and 14 starts, Rook leads the Ohio Valley Conference in victories. One more win will give her 10 wins in a season for the second time in her career.

Ellis and Rook Win OVC Honors
Southeast Missouri won a pair of Ohio Valley Conference honors Monday. Senior Ashley Ellis was named the league's Player of the Week and junior Rachel Rook won her second-straight OVC Pitcher of the Week award on Mar. 29. A native of Arnold, Missouri, Ellis hit .625 with four runs scored, four home runs and 10 RBI to lead SEMO to four wins last week. She homered in all three games of the Redhawks series sweep of Morehead State (Mar. 26-27). Ellis added two round-trippers and matched a career-high five RBI in game two of that series for her second multi-home run game this season. For the week, Ellis boasted a 2.125 slugging percentage and .700 on-base percentage with all but one of her hits coming on the long ball. She leads SEMO and ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference with nine home runs in 2021. Rook, who hails from Republic, Missouri, went 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA, a shutout and one save in three appearances and two starts. Rook, who has won in each of her last seven starts, tossed a one-hit five-inning shutout with seven strikeouts against Morehead State (Mar. 26). A day later, she added her second complete game win of the week when she struck out five in six innings to beat the Eagles on Mar. 27. Rook also came on in relief to pitch three innings with seven strikeouts en route to earning her first save of the season at Saint Louis (Mar. 24). She recorded 19 strikeouts and walked only one for the week. SEMO swept the league's weekly honors for the first time since 2010. Renee Kertz (Player of the Week) and Whitney Dupuis (Pitcher of the Week) were the last to accomplish the feat on Feb. 15 that year. Ellis and Rook have each won two OVC weekly accolades this season.

.400 Hitters
Freshman Katie Dreiling and Rachel Anderson are each hitting over .400 this season. Dreiling leads the Redhawks with a .444 clip, while Anderson follows with a .414 average. Dreiling also boasts a team-high .741 slugging percentage and Anderson has a team-best .518 on-base percentage. Anderson is also fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average.

That's Impressive
Nine of Ashley Ellis' 16 hits this season are home runs. That equtes to 56 percent of her hit output. Ellis collected multiple home runs in two games this season and has homered in each of her last three contests. She ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference in home runs.

Double-Digit Hits
Southeast Missouri registered 10 or more hits in six of its last seven games. The Redhawks rank second in the Ohio Valley Conference with 181 hits and are outhitting their opponents by a +47 margin (181-134).