Southeast Missouri at Louisiana Tech

Game Information
Dates: Saturday-Sunday, February 11-12, 2023
Schedule: Sat. - 4 p.m., CT; Sun. - 12 p.m., CT (DH)
Location: Ruston, La.
Facility: Dr. Billy Bundrick Field
Series: La. Tech leads, 4-1
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (416-409 overall; 209-171 at SEMO; 101-71 OVC). Josh Taylor (162-129 overall; 39-20 at La. Tech; 18-6 C-USA).

Follow the Redhawks
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Twitter: @SEMOSoftball

Redhawks Open 2023 Season
Southeast Missouri opens its 2023 campaign with a three-game series at Conference-USA member Louisiana Tech this weekend. SEMO and La. Tech will play a single game at 4 p.m., CT Saturday followed by a 12 p.m. doubleheader Sunday.

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats for all three games of this weekend's series will be available online at LaTechSports.com. Twitter updates will be provided @SEMOsoftball.

Series History
Saturday's matchup marks the sixth between Southeast Missouri and Louisiana Tech. La. Tech holds a 4-1 lead in the all-time series. The last time these teams squared off was on Feb. 16, 2019. SEMO lost that contest by a score of 11-3 in Ruston. All five of the Redhawks games with the Lady Techsters were played outside of Cape Girardeau.

Season-Openers
Southeast Missouri is 16-15 in season-opening games during its NCAA Division I era. This year marks SEMO's 32nd as an NCAA Division I program. The Redhawks are 4-4 in season-openers under Head Coach Mark Redburn. SEMO opened a season with a win in four of the last six years. SEMO put up 13 runs in a 13-0 season-opening win in five innings over Alabama A&M a year ago. The 13 runs are the most the Redhawks ever scored in a season-opening game.

Team 47
The 2023 season is Southeast Missouri's 47th in program history. SEMO's softball program has an all-time record of  1,180-864. The Redhawks are 820-741-2 since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992.

Redburn One Away from 300 NCAA Division I Wins
Mark Redburn, who begins his ninth year as Southeast Missouri's head softball coach is just one win away from picking up his 300th career victory as an NCAA Division I head coach. Redburn is 299-346 in 13 years as head coach between Evansville (five years) and SEMO (eight years). 

Redhawks Tabbed Second in OVC Preseason Poll
Southeast Missouri was picked second in the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Softball Poll voted on by the league's head coaches and communications directors. SEMO was selected second behind UT Martin, which tallied 123 points and 11 of the possible 18 first-place votes. The Redhawks accumulated 119 points and seven first-place nods in the voting. Tennessee Tech (91 pts.), Eastern Illinois (86 pts.) and Southern Indiana (70 pts.) rounded out the top-five, while SIU Edwardsville (61 pts.), Lindenwood (45 pts.), Tennessee State (30 pts.) and Morehead State (23 pts.)     followed.

Softball Success
In the last five seasons alone, Southeast Missouri has won a total of 151 games for an average of 30 per year during that span. The Redhawks notched a program record 46 wins in 2019 and won 30 games in back-to-back seasons (2021, 2022) for the second time in Mark Redburn's tenure. In terms of winning percentage, softball was the winningest program in SEMO Athletics with a .569 clip over the last seven years. In that time, the Redhawks accumulated 190 victories and boasted a .601 winning percentage with 89 wins in OVC play.

Returning Starters
Five Southeast Missouri position starters and two starting pitchers return from last season. Outfielder Paige Halliwill, infielders Kynzie Wrigley, Aubrie Shore and Abigail Rickermann along with catcher Kat Sackett are back. Wrigley (.323), Rickermann (.296) and Shore (.288) are the top three hitters returning. Halliwill and Shore both made the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team in 2022. Meanwhile, Paytience Holman and Marisa Davis are SEMO's returning starting pitchers. Holman ranked second on the team with 51 strikeouts in 81 innings and finished at 6-6 with a 4.49 ERA last season. Davis led the pitching staff with 30 appearances and rated third on the team with 46 strikeouts in 77.2 frames. Holman (4) and Davis (2) combined for six complete games, as well.

Home Winning Streak
The Redhawks carry a 17-game winning streak into their 2023 campaign. For the first time in program history, Southeast Missouri went undefeated at home when it finished the 2022 season at 14-0. The Redhawks were the only Ohio Valley Conference team unbeaten on their home diamond a year ago.

Anderson and Tucker Ready to Go
Outfielder Jillian Anderson and shortstop Alyson Tucker are back to full strength this 2023 season. Anderson and Tucker both suffered season-ending injuries a year ago. Anderson started 12 games before her season was cut short due to an elbow injury. Tucker was limited to 25 starts with a knee injury.