2023 Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship

Game Information
Opponent: Winner of #4 UT Martin and #5 SIU Edwardsville/#8 Morehead State Winner
Date: Thursday, May 11, 2023
First Pitch: 12:30 p.m., CT
Location: Oxford, Ala.
Facility: Choccolocco Park

Follow the Redhawks
Video: ESPN+ 
Live Stats: OVCSports.com
Twitter: @SEMOSoftball
OVC Tournament Notes: Southeast Missouri

OVC Championship Information
Dates: Wednesday-Saturday, May 10-13, 2023
Participating Teams: #1 Southeast Missouri (28-12), #2 Eastern Illinois (31-19), #3 Southern Indiana (20-21), #4 UT Martin (21-22), #5 SIU Edwardsville (25-24), #6 Tennessee State (21-24-1), #7 Lindenwood (16-31), #8 Morehead State (11-32) 
Bracket: OVC Championship
Championship Central: OVCSports.com
Venue: Choccolocco Park | Directions

OVC Tournament Time
#1 Southeast Missouri (28-12) opens postseason play at the eight-team Ohio Valley Conference Tournament this week. SEMO will play at 12:30 p.m., CT on Thursday, May 11 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama. The Redhawks face the winner of #4 UT Martin and Game 2 (#5 SIU Edwardsville/#8 Morehead State) winner in their first matchup of the tournament.

Follow the Redhawks
Video for the entire Ohio Valley Conference Softball Tournament is available online at ESPN+. Live stats can be accessed at OVCSports.com. Twitter updates will be provided @SEMOsoftball.

2023 Field
The 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Championship field consists of #1 Southeast Missouri (28-12), #2 Eastern Illinois (31-19), #3 Southern Indiana (20-21), #4 UT Martin (21-22), #5 SIU Edwardsville (25-24), #6 Tennessee State (21-24-1), #7 Lindenwood (16-31) and #8 Morehead State (11-32). Of the eight teams, SEMO, EIU and SIUE enter the postseason with overall winning records.

OVC Regular-Season Champions 
Southeast Missouri won the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title and claimed the #1 seed in this week's OVC Tournament with its series sweep of UT Martin (Apr. 29-30). SEMO was in position to clinch that 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 Tournament Berths
The 2023 campaign marks Southeast Missouri's 21st Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearance. SEMO's other trips to the league's postseason event came in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. The Redhawks have won six OVC Tournament championships in program history (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2019).

Choccolocco Park
This is the seventh year the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Tournament will be held at Choccolocco Park, a neutral site in Oxford, Alabama. It is the 29th time the Championship will be held overall. Southeast Missouri makes the event for the fifth time since it has been in Oxford. The Redhawks are 9-7 in OVC Tournament games played at Choccolocco Park.

OVC Tournament Record
The Redhawks are in the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Tournament for the fifth-straight year. Southeast Missouri is 48-32 all-time at the OVC Tournament. SEMO made the championship round in two of its last three appearances. The Redhawks are the top seed in the tournament for the third time in four years. SEMO won the title when it beat #2 Jacksonville State twice in 2019 and finished runner-up to #2 Eastern Kentucky in 2021. Last year, SEMO fell one win shy of reaching the championship round.

#1 Seed
Southeast Missouri is in the Ohio Valley Conference as a #1 seed for the eighth time in program history. SEMO was the #1 seed in the 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2019 and 2021 tournaments prior to this year. The Redhawks hold a 23-8 record as the tournament's top seed.

OVC Winning Streak Stops at 16
The Redhawks held a 16-game Ohio Valley Conference winning streak from Mar. 18-Apr. 30. Southeast Missouri beat Tennessee State 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) during that stretch. It was 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
Southeast Missouri finished Ohio Valley Conference play with a 20-2 mark, its second-best league record in program history. SEMO won 20 or more conference games for the fifth time in program history. This year's OVC record is second only to the 1996 team that went 22-2 against league foes.

Championship Culture
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 won the 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 two more wins, the Redhawks will claim their fourth-straight 30-win season. Southeast Missouri (28) currently ranks second behind Eastern Illinois (31) 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 237 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 .311
The Redhawks are hitting .311 as the only team in the Ohio Valley Conference hitting over .300 in 2023. Southeast Missouri's current .311 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).

OVC Tournament Experience
Southeast Missouri has five players on its roster that have been to three or more Ohio Valley Conference Tournaments in their careers. The 2023 campaign marks the fourth conference tournament appearance for both Marisa Davis and Karsyn Davis. Meanwhile, Kynzie Wrigley, Paytience Holman and Abigail Rickermann each head to the league's postseason fling for the third time.

Hitting Streaks
Kynzie Wrigley and Jillian Anderson each carry six-game hitting streaks into the postseason. Wrigley hit .533 with six runs, four doubles, a home run and seven RBI in that stretch. Anderson hit .333 with five runs, a double and two triples in her last six contests.

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.

Kell at 13 Wins
Delaney Kell is 13-3 as the Redhawks top pitcher in wins. Kell has started 15 of her team-high 23 appearances. She went 6-0 in the circle in April. Kell is tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference in wins and put together an undefeated 9-0 record in OVC games.

One-Two Punch
Pitchers Delaney Kell and Marisa Davis did not lose in Ohio Valley Conference play this season. Kell went 9-0 and Davis was 6-0 against league foes. Davis limited opponents to a OVC best .157 batting average in conference games.

Nine OVC Wins
For the third-straight season, Southeast Missouri had a pitcher get nine or more Ohio Valley Conference wins. Delaney Kell, who made only three appearances and one start as a freshman in 2022, went a perfect 9-0 in 12 games and 10 starts against OVC opponents. Rachel Rook won 10 league games in 2022 and 14 in 2021.

Mighty Offensive
Southeast Missouri is hit a league-best .358 in Ohio Valley Conference play this season. SEMO also finished first in the OVC in league games in on-base percentage (.441) slugging percentage (.547), runs (149), hits (209), triples (12), doubles (41), RBI (138) and total bases (319). The Redhawks held a +107 advantage (149-42) in scoring through 22 OVC contests.

Redhawks Lead OVC in Hitting and Pitching
Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average and ERA. SEMO is hitting .311 and boasts a 2.61 ERA through 40 games this season. The Redhawks also top the league in on-base percentage (.396), triples (13), opposing batting average (.226), saves (6), fewest hits allowed (222), fewest runs allowed (115), fewest earned runs allowed (96) and fewest walks allowed (73).

.300 or Better
Eight Redhawks are hitting .300 or better this season. Zoe Schulte leads the team with a .393 batting average, while Paige Halliwill (.350), Aubrie Shore (.345), Sydney Dennis (.337), Alyson Tucker (.330), Abigail Rickermann (.329), Jillian Anderson (.309) and Kynzie Wrigley (.300) follow.

National Rankings
Southeast Missouri ranks eighth in the nation in doubles per game (1.7) and 24th in on-base percentage (.395). Kat Sackett is 11th in the country in doubles per game (0.34).

Redhawks 91st in RPI
Southeast Missouri comes in at 91st 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 193.

Everyday Starters
Four Redhawks, including Paige Halliwill, Kat Sackett, Aubrie Shore and Alyson Tucker have started all 40 games for Southeast Missouri in 2023. Halliwill started every game in center field, and Shore has started all of SEMO's contests at first.

Team 47
The 2023 season is Southeast Missouri's 47th in program history. SEMO's softball program has an all-time record of 2,008-876. The Redhawks are 848-753-2 since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992.