Southeast Missouri (27-11, 19-1 OVC) at Eastern Illinois (30-18, 15-5 OVC)

Series Information
Dates: Saturday-Sunday, May 6-7, 2023
Series Schedule: Sat. - 3 p.m. (DH); Sun. - 1 p.m., CT 
Location: Charleston, Ill.
Facility: Williams Field
Series: SEMO leads, 48-39
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (450-431 overall; 236-182 at SEMO; 120-72 OVC). Tara Archibald (91-77 overall; 91-77 at EIU; 41-36 OVC).

Follow the Redhawks
Video: ESPN+ Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Twitter: @SEMOSoftball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Close Out Regular Season This Weekend
Ohio Valley Conference Champion Southeast Missouri (27-11, 19-1) travels to Eastern Illinois (30-18, 15-5) for its final series of the regular-season this weekend. SEMO and EIU will play a 3 p.m. doubleheader Saturday followed by a 1 p.m., CT matchup Sunday.

Follow the Redhawks
Video for this weekend's series is available online at ESPN+. Live stats can be accessed at EIUPanthers.com. Twitter updates will be provided @SEMOsoftball.

Series History
Southeast Missouri holds a 48-39 lead in its all-time series against Eastern Illinois. SEMO won seven of the last eight meetings between the teams. The Redhawks swept the Panthers in Cape Girardeau a year ago.

OVC Regular-Season Champions 
Southeast Missouri won the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title and claimed the #1 seed in next week's OVC Tournament with its series sweep of UT Martin (Apr. 29-30). SEMO was in position to clinch last weekend after Lindenwood swept Eastern Illinois. It is the Redhawks eighth OVC regular-season title in program history and third since the 2019 campaign.

OVC Winning Streak
The Redhawks are on a 16-game Ohio Valley Conference winning streak. Southeast Missouri's only conference loss came at Tennessee State in the first game of a doubleheader on Mar. 18. Since then, SEMO beat the Tigers in the nightcap and swept Southern Indiana (Mar. 25-26), Tennessee Tech (Apr. 1-2), Morehead State (Apr. 7-8), Lindenwood (Apr. 15-16) and UT Martin (Apr. 29-30) in three games. It is the Redhawks longest OVC winning streak under Head Coach Mark Redburn and longest since SEMO won 21 in a row during the 1996 season.

What a Run
At 19-1, Southeast Missouri has its best Ohio Valley Conference record in 27 years. SEMO went undefeated through its first 20 league contests in 1996. One more victory will give the Redhawks 20 conference wins in a season for the second time in three years and fifth time in program history.

Awesome Year for the Redhawks 
Softball's recent Ohio Valley Conference title marked the sixth OVC Championship for Southeast Missouri's Department of Athletics in 2022-23. SEMO's football (regular-season), women's indoor track & field, men's basketball (tournament) and women's tennis (regular-season & (tournament) also raised the trophy this year. So far, each of SEMO's spring sports has won an OVC crown.

Unbeaten at Home Again
With its sweep of UT Martin (Apr. 29-30), Southeast Missouri went undefeated at home for the second-straight year. SEMO finished at 13-0 at the Southeast Softball Complex as the Ohio Valley Conference's only team with an undefeated home record this year. The Redhawks went unbeaten on their home field in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.

Home Winning Streak
Southeast Missouri has won 30 in a row at home. SEMO went 14-0 in 2022, 13-0 in 2023 and won its final three home games of the 2021 campaign. The home winning streak is a program record.

Another 30-Win Season in Sight
With three more wins, the Redhawks will claim their fourth-straight 30-win season. Southeast Missouri (27) currently ranks second behind Eastern Illinois (30) in the Ohio Valley Conference in victories. SEMO has won 30 or more games 19 times in its program history. Fourteen of those 30-win campaigns came during the Redhawks NCAA Division I era.

Redburn Picks Up 450th Win
Southeast Missouri's 5-2 Ohio Valley Conference title clinching win over UT Martin (Apr. 30) gave Mark Redburn his 450th career victory as a head coach. Redburn has 236 wins in nine years at SEMO. Prior to that, he won 90 games as head coach at Evansville, 49 as head coach at Jefferson College and 75 in the same role at St. Charles Community College.

Shore Hits First Grand Slam
Aubrie Shore's team-high seventh home run came on her first career grand slam in the bottom of the second inning against UT Martin (Apr. 29). Shore now has 16 round-trippers as Southeast Missouri's active career home run leader.

Dennis the Menace
Second baseman Sydney Dennis hit .625 in three starts during Southeast Missouri's series sweep of UT Martin (Apr. 29-30). Dennis had five hits in eight at-bats, including a double and two triples. She had three RBI, one stolen base and two runs. Dennis boasted a .625 on-base percentage and 1.250 slugging percentage, as well. She finished with multiple hits in each of the final two games of the series.

Redhawks Hitting .308
The Redhawks are hitting .308 as the only team in the Ohio Valley Conference hitting over .300 in 2023. Southeast Missouri's current .308 batting average ranks second- best in a season in program history behind the 1996 club (.323). Presently, only three teams have hit over .300 in a season in program history -- 1996 (.323), 1998 (.302), 2019 (.301).

Holman Picks Up First Career OVC Pitcher of the Week Honor
Southeast Missouri's Paytience Holman won the first Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week honor in her career on May 1. A native of Mexico, Missouri, Holman went 2-0 with a staggering 0.54 ERA in three appearances and two starts against UT Martin. She recorded both of her wins in SEMO's OVC title clinching doubleheader on Apr. 30. Holman tossed a complete game one-hit shutout and retired 15 of the 16 hitters she faced in game one. She started game two and gave way to reliever Marisa Davis in the fifth inning. Holman re-entered in that same inning inheriting a bases loaded jam which she pitched out of. Then, in the top of the seventh, UTM had the tying run at the plate when Holman ended the game by getting Katie Dreiling to fly out to left. She did not allow a walk and struck out three in 13 innings of work en route to bringing her record to 6-6 this year. Holman is the third Redhawk to be named OVC Pitcher of the Week in 2023.

2,000th Win for SEMO Softball
Southeast Missouri picked up its 2,000th win in program history when it beat Morehead State, 1-0, on Apr. 8. SEMO's softball program has an all-time record of 2,007-875. A total of 847 of those wins have come at the NCAA Division I level.

Run Rule Wins
Southeast Missouri won eight games by way of the run rule this season. SEMO won those contests by eight or more runs in either five or six innings. Seven of those were in Ohio Valley Conference play.

About Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois fell out of contention for this year's Ohio Valley Conference regular- season title when it was swept in three games at Lindenwood last weekend. EIU suffered two of its losses to the Lions on walkoff hits. The Panthers are currently the only team in the OVC with 30 wins this season. EIU had a 10-game winning streak prior to its series loss to Lindenwood. The Panthers lead the league in runs (221), hits (351), RBI (195), doubles (77), total bases (559) and walks (160). EIU hitters have also been hit by a pitch a OVC high 32 times. Lindy Milkowski leads the conference in RBI (44) and home runs (14).

Kell at 13 Wins
Delaney Kell is 13-3 as the Redhawks top pitcher in wins. Kell has started 14 of her team-high 22 appearances. She went 6-0 in the circle in April. Kell is tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference in wins and is a league-best 9-0 in OVC games.

Another Sweep
The Redhawks claimed their sixth series sweep of the season when they took all three games from UT Martin (Apr. 29-30). Southeast Missouri also swept Lindenwood (Apr. 15-16), Morehead State (Apr. 7-8), Southern Indiana (Mar. 25-26), Tennessee Tech (Apr. 1-2) and SIU Edwardsville (Mar. 10-11). SEMO collected series sweeps against six of their first seven conference opponents. The Redhawks swept five-straight league foes.

Mighty Offensive
Southeast Missouri is hitting a league-best .360 in Ohio Valley Conference play this season. SEMO is first in the OVC in league games in on-base percentage (.445), slugging percentage (.546), runs (138), hits (187), triples (10), doubles (38), RBI (127) and total bases (284). The Redhawks hold a +104 advantage (138-34) in scoring through 20 OVC contests.

Redhawks Lead OVC in Hitting and Pitching
Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average and ERA. SEMO is hitting .308 and boasts a 2.57 ERA through 38 games this season. The Redhawks also top the league in on-base percentage (.395), triples (11), opposing batting average (.221), saves (6), fewest hits allowed (204), fewest runs allowed (107), fewest earned runs allowed (89) and fewest walks allowed (66).

Over .300
Eight Redhawks are hitting over .300 this season. Zoe Schulte leads the team with a .377 batting average, while Paige Halliwill (.358), Aubrie Shore (.346), Sydney Dennis (.341), Alyson Tucker (.341), Abigail Rickermann (.328), Jillian Anderson (.314) and Kat Sackett (.301) follow.

Keep it Going
The Redhawks are 21-5 in their last 26 games. Southeast Missouri won 17 of its previous 20 contests. 

April is Over
Southeast Missouri ended April with a 13-2 record. The Redhawks swept Tennessee Tech (Apr. 1-2), Morehead State (Apr. 7-8), Lindenwood (Apr. 15-16) and UT Martin (Apr. 29-30), and beat Southern Illinois (Apr. 11) for their April wins. SEMO's only two losses in the month came at Big 12 Conference member Iowa State (Apr. 18).

Seeing Double
Southeast Missouri ranks eighth in the nation in doubles per game. SEMO has 65 doubles for an average of 1.71 per game through 38 contests. Kat Sackett leads the team with 13 doubles and is 10th in the nation in doubles per game.

Redhawks 90th in RPI
Southeast Missouri comes in at 90th in the latest NCAA Division I RPI rankings this week. SEMO is among the top-third out of 306 Division I schools in RPI. Tennessee State has the next highest RPI in the Ohio Valley Conference at 197.

OVC Tournament is Next
Top-seeded Southeast Missouri will open postseason play at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday, May 11. First pitch is set for 12:30 p.m., CT at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama. SEMO's opponent is to be determined as final seeding for the eight-team field will be set after this weekend's games.