Austin Peay (5-2) vs. Southeast Missouri (2-8)

Game Information
Dates: March 5-6, 2021
Series Schedule: Mar. 5 - 1 p.m., CT; Mar. 6 - 12 p.m. (DH), CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Southeast Softball Complex (600)
Series History: SEMO leads 71-23
Last Meeting: SEMO 9, APSU 0 (5) (April 12, 2019 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (365-387 overall; 151-138 at SEMO; 62-55 OVC). Kassie Stanfill (49-36 overall; 49-36 at APSU).

Follow the Redhawks
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Twitter: @SEMOsoftball
Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)

Redhawks Open OVC Play 
Southeast Missouri (2-8) hosts Austin Peay (5-2) in its Ohio Valley Conference opening series this weekend. The Redhawks and Governors play at 1 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. (DH), CT Saturday. 

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats for all games of the Austin Peay series are available online at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOsoftball.

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Austin Peay meet for the 95th time in their series-opener Friday. The Redhawks hold a record of 71-23 in the all-time series. SEMO went 9-3 in its last 12 matchups with the Governors, all of which were under Head Coach Mark Redburn. 

Schedule Change
A heavy home schedule of events was the cause of the Southeast Missouri and Austin Peay softball series being shifted this weekend. SEMO and APSU were initially scheduled to play Saturday and Sunday. Instead, the teams will play Friday and Saturday. The Redhawks baseball, women's soccer and football teams all play at home this weekend, as well.

OVC Openers
Southeast Missouri is 18-10 all-time in Ohio Valley Conference openers. SEMO opened league play with a win in seven of the last 10 seasons. The Redhawks did not play any conference games in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Anderson Breaks Three Career Records  
Center fielder Rachel Anderson broke three Southeast Missouri career records at the Razorback Invitational (Feb. 26-28). Anderson established new career marks in hits (237), walks (90) and RBI (133). She surpassed Alex Ramirez (88, 2007-10) in walks, Jenny Oermann (231, 1996-99) in hits and both Renee Kertz (132, 2009-12) and Michelle Summers (132, 2005-08) in RBI.

150th Win
Mark Redburn picked up his 150th career win as Southeast Missouri's head coach when the Redhawks earned their first victory of the season with a 6-2 victory over North Dakota State (Feb. 26). Redburn is 151-138 in his seventh year at SEMO. The Redhawks put together an overall record of 91-43 and 32-12 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play. Redburn, the reigning OVC Coach of the Year, guided SEMO to its first OVC regular-season and tournament titles, and NCAA Tournament in 20 years during the 2019 campaign.

How Long Has it Been?
Southeast Missouri did not get a chance to play any Ohio Valley Conference games when its 2020 season was shortened due to COVID-19. That said, it has been 672 days since SEMO last played a OVC contest. Morehead State was the Redhawks last conference opponent on May 3, 2019. SEMO swept the Eagles to claim their share of the 2019 OVC regular-season title in Cape Girardeau that night.

Razorback Invitational Recap 
The Redhawks picked up their first wins of the season at the Razorback Invitational (Feb. 26-28). Southeast Missouri beat North Dakota State, 6-2, and Big 12 Conference foe Texas Tech, 5-3, in eight innings. SEMO went 2-3 in its only regular-season tournament of the 2021 campaign. 

Andersons Go Back-to-Back 
Rachel Anderson and Kaylee Anderson became the first to hit back-to-back home runs for Southeast Missouri this season. R. Anderson smacked a two-run home run and K. Anderson followed that up with a solo shot to right center in the top of the fourth inning at #24 Arkansas (Feb. 27). The back-to-back home runs gave SEMO a 3-2 lead at the time. 

Ready for OVC Play 
Southeast Missouri used a tough schedule over the first month of the season to prepare itself for Ohio Valley Conference play. SEMO faced three Southeastern Conference opponents in Auburn, #23 Tennessee and #24 Arkansas. The Redhawks also faced Big 12 Conference member Texas Tech twice in their first eight contests.

About Austin Peay 
Austin Peay, which was picked sixth in this year's Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll, is off to a 5-2 start. Pitchers Jordan Benefiel (2-0) and Kelsey Gross (2-0) are a combined 4-0 thus far. Gross was named this week's Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week after tossing a one-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over DePaul. She held opponents to a .036 batting average a week ago. Meanwhile, Benefield ranks second in the OVC with a 0.75 ERA. Offensively, Lexi Osowski and Bailey Shorter top the Governors hitting .458 and .423, respectively.

Home Run Count 
Ashley Ellis and Kaylee Anderson lead Southeast Missouri with two home runs each this season. As a team, the Redhawks have hit six through eight games. Rachel Anderson and Ashley Emert hit the others.

Team 45
The 2021 campaign is the 45th season of Southeast Missouri softball. SEMO's softball program has an all-time record of 1,122-831-3. The Redhawks are 762-708-2 all-time since moving to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992.

Strikeout Tracker
In six starts this season, Rachel Rook recorded 27 strikeouts, including a season-high seven at #23 Tennessee (Feb. 20). Rook currently has 231 strikeouts in her Southeast Missouri career. She passed Amy Johannsen (221, 1992-95) for ninth on the school's all-time career strikeout list.

Strong Effort
Kaylee Anderson had a big weekend at the Razorback Invitational last weekend. Anderson hit a team-best .533 with five runs scored, eight hits, a double, two home runs and four RBI in five starts. She also boasted a 1.000 slugging percentage and .588 on-base percentage. Anderson carries a five-game hitting streak into this weekend's series against Austin Peay.

Career Record Watch
Rachel Anderson, Southeast Missouri's all-time career leader in triples (29), batting average (.421), slugging percentage (.718), on-base percentage (.507), hits (237), walks (90) and RBI (133), is looking to do more damage on the record books this year. Anderson is also second in runs scored (143) behind Michelle Summers (161, 2005-08),  stolen bases (61) behind Lisa Thornton (82, 1987-90) and total bases (404) behind Summers (423).

The Chase is On
Ashley Ellis, who broke Southeast Missouri's single-season home run record with 17 bombs in 2019, is now chasing the school's all-time career home run record. Ellis currently ranks second with 36 home runs. She needs 13 more to surpass Michelle Summers (48, 2005-08) for the new mark. 

OVC Preseason Favorite
Last year, Southeast Missouri was the preseason favorite in the Ohio Valley Conference, but didn't get a chance to play a conference game due to COVID-19. Now, the Redhawks are in that exact same spot going into the 2021 campaign and they are again anxious to defend their OVC regular-season and tournament crowns. SEMO was picked first in the league's 2021 Predicted Order of Finish, tallying 228 points and 13 of the possible 24 first-place votes. The Preseason Poll is selected by OVC Head Coaches and Communications Directors. Eastern Kentucky (224 points), Jacksonville State (211 points), Murray State
(167 points) and SIU Edwardsville (151 points) filled out the top five. Austin Peay (143 points), UT Martin (109 points), Tennessee Tech (97 points), Eastern Illinois (92 points), Belmont (88 points), Tennessee State (34 points) and Morehead State (32 points) rounded out the poll.

All-American Anderson
Southeast Missouri's first All-American in its NCAA Division I era, center fielder Rachel Anderson is returns for her fifth year in 2021. Anderson won the coveted 2019 OVC Player of the Year honor to go along with her Third-Team National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America award. She is also a three-time First-Team All-OVC and NFCA All-Region selection, and claimed First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades in her phenomenal career.

Elite .400 Club
Rachel Anderson is currently one of 131 NCAA Division I softball hitters with a career batting average of .400 or better. She is hitting .421 for her college career. Anderson was hitting a team-best .480 and led the Redhawks in runs (19), hits (24), triples (5), slugging percentage (.880), on-base percentage (.541) and stolen bases (9) when play was suspended a year ago.  

Starting Streaks Intact
Rachel Anderson has never missed a start in her career. Anderson has a streak of 194 straight starts in center field. Ashley Ellis carries a streak of 174 consecutive starts into this weekend. Both Anderson (t8th) and Ellis (9th, 191) rank among Southeast Missouri's career leaders in games started.