Southeast Missouri (5-5) at Ole Miss (12-4)

Series Information
Date: Wednesday, March 2, 2022
First Pitch: 6 p.m., CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Facility: Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,000)
Series: Ole Miss leads, 8-2
Last Meeting: Ole Miss 10, SEMO 0 (May 18, 2019 | Oxford, Miss.)
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (391-390 overall; 184-152 at SEMO; 85-61 OVC). Jamie Trachsel (12-4 overall; 12-4 at Ole Miss).

Follow the Redhawks
Video: SEC Network+ (Seth Austin, Amanda Nikhazy)
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Twitter: @SEMOSoftball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)

Redhawks Head to Ole Miss 
Southeast Missouri (5-5) heads to Southeastern Conference Ole Miss (12-4) for its first midweek game of the season Wednesday. First pitch of a seven-inning contest is set for 6 p.m., CT at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can watch Wednesday's game live on SEC Network+. Live stats are available at OleMissSports.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOsoftball.

Series History
Wednesday marks the 11th meeting between Southeast Missouri and Ole Miss. The Rebels hold an 8-2 lead in the all-time series. Both of SEMO's wins over Ole Miss came in Oxford. The Redhawks last faced the Rebels in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss eliminated SEMO with a 10-0 victory on May 18 at its home field. 

Against the SEC
The Redhawks are 13-68 all-time against the SEC. Ole Miss is one of two SEC foes on Southeast Missouri's schedule this season along with Arkansas (Apr. 12). SEMO has faced seven SEC teams in its program history. The Redhawks previously played Arkansas (2-10), Kentucky (2-2), Mississippi State (1-7), Missouri (6-34), Texas A&M (0-1), LSU (0-1), Auburn (0-3), Tennessee (0-2) and Ole Miss (2-8). Head Coach Mark Redburn has upended a SEC foe in two of the last four years. SEMO beat Missouri at home on Mar. 21, 2018 (8-2) and knocked off then-#12 Arkansas in Fayetteville on Feb. 21, 2019 (6-1).

Weekend Off
The Redhawks were initially scheduled to play five games at the Arkansas Invitational last weekend, but inclement winter weather kept them from making the trip to Fayetteville. Southeast Missouri was supposed to play Louisville, Arkansas, Kansas and Nebraska at the event. Tuesday will be SEMO's first softball game in nine days.

Away From Cape Girardeau
Southeast Missouri plays its first 23 games of the 2022 season outside of Cape Girardeau. SEMO went 3-2 at the season-opening Lion Classic in Hammond, Louisiana and finished runner-up with a 2-3 mark at the Hilltopper Classic in Bowling Green, Kentucky. After Tuesday's contest, SEMO heads tournaments at Lipscomb (Mar. 4-6) and Kansas (Mar. 11-13), and faces both Kansas City and Iowa in Kansas City, Missouri (Mar. 15).

Approaching 400 Wins
Mark Redburn is nine wins away from reaching 400 as a head coach. Redburn is in his 18th year as a head coach and his career includes 13 years at the NCAA Division I level (5 at Evansville; 8 at SEMO). Overall, Redburn is 391-390. That record includes a 184-152 mark in eight seasons with the Redhawks. 

Rook Throws No-Hitter
Rachel Rook threw a no-hitter and struck out 12 to lead Southeast Missouri to a 6-0 win over Central Michigan (Feb. 18). At the time, Rook tossed the ninth non-combined no-hitter in NCAA Division I softball this season. She retired 20-straight prior to Shannon Stein's two-out walk in the top of the seventh inning. Stein was CMU's only baserunner of the game as Rook was perfect through 6.2 frames. She recorded the second-no-hitter of her career and first seven-inning no-hitter as a Redhawk.

OVC Pitcher of the Week
Rachel Rook was voted Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 21. A native of Republic, Missouri, Rook threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts in Southeast Missouri's win over Central Michigan (Feb. 18). She tossed two complete games and struck out 25 in 19 innings en route to going 2-1 at the Western Kentucky Hilltopper Classic (Feb. 18-20).

Marshall Transfer Tandem
Outfielder Paige Halliwill and catcher Kat Sackett were teammates at Marshall University as freshmen in 2021 before joining the Redhawks this year. Both Halliwill and Sackett have started all 10 games in their first season at Southeast Missouri. Halliwill has been in the lineup every game at center field, while Sackett started six games at catcher and four as designated player. 

Division I Debuts
Tori Bradley, Aubrie Shore, Sydney Dennis, Tatum Gerwitz, Kileigh Grisham and Delaney Kell made their NCAA Division I softball debuts with Southeast Missouri this season. Bradley and Shore are currently among SEMO's top three hitters with .450 and .440 batting averages. Shore has started every game as a freshman thus far.

Statistically Speaking
Southeast Missouri is among the top two in the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average (2nd, .326), on-base percentage (1st, .410) and fewest hits allowed (1st, 54). Individually, Rachel Rook leads the OVC in both strikeouts (53) and strikeouts looking (12), and is second in innings (35.0), wins (4) and starts (6). Aubrie Shore boasts an .821 slugging percentage, second-best in the league. 

Over 10 Strikeouts
Rachel Rook registered over 10 strikeouts in three of her first four starts in the circle this season. Rook struck out 12 in a season-opening complete game shutout against Alabama A&M (Feb. 11) and matched a career-high 15 strikeouts in a seven-inning one-hitter vs. Nicholls (Feb. 13). She then opened the Hilltopper Classic with 12 strikeouts in a complete game no-hitter vs. Central Michigan (Feb. 18). She leads the Ohio Valley Conference and ranks 27th in the nation with an average of 10.6 strikeouts per seven innings. In addition, Rook has pitched four complete games and two shutouts in six starts this year.

Rook Joins SEMO's Top-10 in Wins
Rachel Rook, who is presently 4-2 in seven appearances and six starts this season, joined Southeast Missouri's all-time career list in wins. Rook is 44-22 in a Redhawk uniform and is tied with Haley Thogmartin (44-26, 2016-19) for ninth on that list. 

Strikeout Counter
Rachel Rook has 453 strikeouts in her Southeast Missouri career. Fifty-three of those have come already this season. Rook is third on SEMO's all-time career list in strikeouts. Elaine Fischer (501, 2005-08) and Tracie Eudaley (471, 1984-87) are currently ahead of her.

Roster Talk
Southeast Missouri has a 22-member roster predominantly full of underclassmen, including nine sophomores and eight freshmen. The Redhawks also have five returning position starters and two starting pitchers. Additionally, SEMO has a pair of veteran fifth-year seniors in reigning Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year Rachel Rook and outfielder Kaylee Anderson, the Redhawks second-leading home run hitter last season.

OVC Preseason-Favorite
The reigning back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference Champion softball team is the preseason favorite in the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll. SEMO garnered 16 of the possible 20 first-place votes and accumulated 157 points in the overall voting by OVC Head Coaches and Communication Directors. Austin Peay (140 pts.), Murray State (121 pts.), Eastern Illinois (107 pts.) and UT Martin (107 pts.) rounded out the top five. SIU Edwardsville (82 pts.), Tennessee Tech (69 pts.), Belmont (63 pts.), Tennessee State (33 pts.) and Morehead State (21 pts.). SEMO is coming off a season where it went 30-17 overall en route to winning its second-straight and seventh overall OVC regular-season title. The Redhawks finished with a 23-6 record in league play with their 23 conference victories marking the most in program history. In the last two-plus seasons, SEMO put together an overall record of 121-60 and 55-18 mark in OVC play. Mark Redburn picked up his second OVC Coach of the Year accolade and Rachel Rook became only the second SEMO player in program history to win the league's coveted Pitcher of the Year honor. Rook returns for her final season in a Redhawk uniform after leading the OVC in wins (20), innings (163), strikeouts (196), shutouts (7) and opposing batting average (.191).

Team 46
The 2022 campaign is the 46th season of Southeast Missouri softball. SEMO's softball program has an all-time record of 1,155-845-3. The Redhawks are 795-775-2 all-time since moving to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992. SEMO has accumulated eighteen 30-win seasons, two 40-win campaigns, seven Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles, six OVC Tournament crowns and two NCAA Tournament berths in its program history.

30-Win Seasons
Southeast Missouri registered over 30 wins in each of its last three complete seasons. The Redhawks went 30-17 en route to winning their second-straight Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title in 2021 and finished with a 33-20 record and fourth-place finish in the OVC in 2018.. In 2019, SEMO set a program record in wins when it went 46-18 overall and won the OVC regular-season and tournament titles. The Redhawks also made the NCAA Tournament that year. SEMO has a total of 18 seasons with 30 or more wins in its program history.