Southeast Missouri (14-8) at Southern Illinois (23-5)

Game Information
Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2023
First Pitch: 3 p.m., CT
Location: Carbondale, Ill.
Facility: Charlotte West Stadium (502)
Series: SIU leads, 71-24-1
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (437-428 overall; 223-179 at SEMO; 108-72 OVC). Jen Sewell (44-18-1 overall; 44-18-1 at SIU; 22-12 MVC).

Follow the Redhawks
Live Stats: SIUSalukis.com
Twitter: @SEMOSoftball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri 

Redhawks Face Southern Illinois 
Southeast Missouri (14-8) crosses the Mississippi River to play longtime rival Southern Illinois (23-5) Tuesday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m., CT at Charlotte West Stadium.

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats for Tuesday's game can be accessed at SIUSalukis.com. Twitter updates will be provided @SEMOsoftball.

Series History
Regional rivals Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois meet for the 97th time Tuesday. SIU holds a 71-24-1 advantage in the all-time series. These teams last played on Mar. 31, 2021. SEMO won that game by a score of 5-0 in Cape Girardeau. SEMO and SIU were supposed to play on the front end of their home-and-home series this season in Cape Girardeau last week, but that game was rained out.

Second in the OVC
Southeast Missouri is currently second in the Ohio Valley Conference standings behind Eastern Illinois (5-0). SEMO is 7-1 in league play after sweeping both SIU Edwardsville (Mar. 10-11) and Southern Indiana (Mar. 25-26), and splitting two games with Tennessee State (Mar. 18). The Redhawks' seven conference wins are most in the OVC.

Another Sweep
The Redhawks claimed their second series sweep of the season when they took all three games from Southern Indiana (Mar. 25-26). Southeast Missouri won in walk-off fashion twice in that series. Alyson Tucker hit a walk-off grand slam to give SEMO a 11-0 five-inning win in game two and Abigail Rickermann delivered a two-out game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 5-4 victory in game three. The Redhawks swept two of their first three opponents in conference play.

Home Winning Streak
Southeast Missouri has won 23 in a row at home. For the first time in program history, SEMO 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. SEMO also won its final three home games of the 2021 campaign and is presently 6-0 at home this year.

What a Series for Tucker
Shortstop Alyson Tucker had a massive weekend leading Southeast Missouri to its series sweep of Southern Indiana (Mar. 25-26). Tucker hit .600 (6-for-10) with three runs scored, a double, grand slam, 11 RBI and one stolen base for the series. She hit her first career grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning to give SEMO an 11-0 walk-off win in game two. Tucker went 3-for-3 with two runs and seven RBI in that game alone. She then had a two-RBI game-tying single in the bottom of the seventh inning during the series finale right before the Redhawks won that game in walk-off fashion. Tucker also boasted a .636 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage for the weekend.

Tucker Named OVC Player of the Week 
Alyson Tucker was unanimously voted Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week on Mar. 27. Tucker earned the first OVC Player of the Week honor of her career. She is the second Redhawk to win one of the league's weekly awards this season.

Career-High RBI
Alyson Tucker's seven RBI against Southern Indiana (Mar. 26) marked a new career-high. Her seven RBI are the most in a game since Kaylee Anderson finished with eight on a pair of grand slams vs. Morehead State (Apr. 3, 2022). Tucker's seven RBI tie for most in a game by a player in the Ohio Valley Conference. Eastern Illinois' Lindy Milkowski also had seven RBI vs. Bellarmine this year.

Leading Hitter
Alyson Tucker saw her batting average climb 53 points from .311 to .364 following her huge series against Southern Indiana (Mar. 25-26). Tucker enters the week as Southeast Missouri's leading hitter with a .364 batting average. She is on a five- game hitting streak and has hit safely in six of her last seven starts.

Season-High Runs
Southeast Missouri registered a season- high 11 runs in its shutout victory over Southern Indiana (Mar. 26). It marked the second time SEMO scored double-digit runs this year.

Four-Game Winning Streak
The Redhawks are on a four-game winning streak after beating Tennessee State (Mar. 18) on the road and Southern Indiana (Mar. 25-26) at home. Southeast Missouri has won eight of its last 10 games. The four-game winning streak matches SEMO's longest of the season.

Davis is Rolling
Left-hander Marisa Davis had another nice weekend going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in Southeast Missouri's series against Southern Indiana (Mar. 25-26). Davis pitched her first shutout of the season when she went the distance allowing only two hits to go along with seven strikeouts in five innings. Davis then recorded the final two outs in relief during game three of the series. Davis has won in each of her last four starts in the circle and has a team-best 6-1 record and 1.53 ERA this year.

You Have to Earn It
Marisa Davis has allowed only two earned runs in her last 21.2 innings. That stretch includes three starts and five relief appearances. Davis boasted a staggering 0.66 ERA during that span.

Tucker Tough
Alyson Tucker has struck out just one time in her first 55 at-bats this season. Tucker has started all 22 games for Southeast Missouri and is currently the toughest player in the Ohio Valley Conference to strike out. She also ranks third in the nation in that category through games of Mar. 26.

Winner, Winner
After Alyson Tucker hit a two-out, two-RBI single to tie the game, Abigail Rickermann delivered a walk-off game-winning infield hit to send Southeast Missouri to its 5-4 comeback win over Southern Indiana (Mar. 26). Pinch-runner Brittany Affolter scored the winning run on a close play at the plate on Rickermann's hit.

Marching On
Southeast Missouri plays its final game in March when it faces Southern Illinois Tuesday. SEMO is 10-4 overall and 7-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play this month. Redhawks pitchers have boasted a 1.66 ERA with just 22 earned runs allowed in 93 innings this month alone. SEMO pitchers have also combined for three shutouts, three saves and five complete games in March.

Stealing the Show
The Redhawks collected nine stolen bases in their recent series sweep of Southern Indiana (Mar. 25-26). Southeast Missouri went 9-of-11 on the basepaths against the Screaming Eagles. SEMO matched a season-high five stolen bases in game one of the series. The Redhawks lead the Ohio Valley Conference with 34 stolen bases. Sydney Dennis and Paige Halliwill are SEMO's top base stealers with seven and six thefts, respectively.

Redhawks Top OVC in Pitching 
Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in several pitching categories, including earned run average (2.50), opposing batting average (.215) and saves (5) this season. SEMO has also allowed the fewest hits (121), runs (69), earned runs (53) and walks (39) of any team in the OVC in 2023.

How About Offense?
The Redhawks rank second in the Ohio Valley Conference with a .278 batting average entering this week's games. Southeast Missouri tops the league with a .363 on-base percentage and is third among OVC foes in slugging percentage (.398) and triples (4).

Redhawks 96th in RPI
Southeast Missouri comes in at 96th in the NCAA Division I RPI rankings. SEMO is among the top-third out of 306 Division I schools in RPI.