Felsberg Invitational

Tournament Information
Dates: Friday, February 9 - Sunday, February 11, 2024
Participating Teams: Florida International (host), Ohio State, Southeast Missouri, Stony Brook
Location: Miami, Fla.
Facility: Felsberg Field

Schedule: 
Feb. 9 - SEMO vs. Stony Brook, 9 a.m., CT
Feb. 9 - SEMO at Florida International, 11:30 a.m., CT
Feb. 10 - SEMO vs. Ohio State, 9 a.m., CT
Feb. 10 - SEMO vs. TBA, 2 p.m. or 4:30 p.m., CT
Feb. 11 - SEMO vs. TBA, 8 a.m. or 10:30 a.m., CT

Follow the Redhawks
Video: ESPN+ (vs. Florida International Only)
Live Stats: FIUSports.com
Twitter: @SEMOSoftball
Softball Notes: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Open 2024 Season
Southeast Missouri begins its 2024 season at the Florida International Felsberg Invitational in Miami this weekend. SEMO will play five games at the four-team tournament which also includes host FIU, Big Ten Conference member Ohio State and Colonial Athletic Association member Stony Brook.

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats will be available for Southeast Missouri's games at the Felsberg Invitational online at FIUSports.com. Friday's game against Florida International will be on ESPN+. Updates will be provided on X (formerly Twitter) @SEMOSoftball.

Series History
Southeast Missouri faces all of its opponents -- Stony Brook, Florida International, Ohio State -- at this year's Felsberg Invitational for the first time.

Felsberg Invitational Schedule
The Redhawks play Stony Brook (9 a.m.) and tournament host Florida International (11:30 a.m.) Friday. Southeast Missouri faces Ohio State (9 a.m.) and will then play again (opponent TBA) at either 2 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The Redhawks conclude the three-day event with one more game (opponent TBA) at either 8 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Season-Openers
Southeast Missouri is 16-16 in season- opening games during its NCAA Division I era. This year marks SEMO's 33rd as an NCAA Division I program. The Redhawks are 4-5 in season-openers under Head Coach Mark Redburn.

OVC Preseason Favorite
Reigning Ohio Valley Conference regular- season champion Southeast Missouri was tabbed the league's preseason favorite ahead of the 2024 season. SEMO collected 13 of the possible 20 first-place votes and tallied 157 points in the overall voting by the conference's head softball coaches and communications directors. Eastern Illinois, which won the OVC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2023, was picked second with 148 points and six first-place nods. UT Martin earned the remaining first-place vote and is third with 120 points, while Southern Indiana (112 pts.) and SIU Edwardsville (111 pts.) round out the top half. Tennessee State (80 pts.), Lindenwood (65 pts.), Morehead State (44 pts.), first-year OVC member Western Illinois (33 pts.) and Tennessee Tech (30 pts.) complete the predicted order of finish.

Loaded Non-Conference Schedule
The Redhawks aren't shying away from tough competition during the non-conference portion of their schedule. Northern Iowa, Southeastern Louisiana, South Dakota State and Longwood, along with Power 5 schools Ohio State (Big Ten), Maryland (Big Ten), Auburn (SEC), Arkansas (SEC) and Syracuse (ACC) will test Southeast Missouri early. Northern Iowa won the Missouri Valley Conference regular- season title in 2023, while South Dakota State did the same in the Summit League and Longwood claimed a share of the Big South regular-season crown. Meanwhile, Auburn (43-19), Arkansas (40-19) and Southeastern Louisiana (47-14) all won 40 or more games and combined for 130 victories a year ago.

Tournament Play
Southeast Missouri will play its first 19 games of the 2024 campaign outside of Cape Girardeau with trips to four different tournaments. After this weekend's season-opening Felsberg Invitational, SEMO heads to the Southeastern Louisiana Lion Classic (Feb. 16-18, Hammond, La.), Auburn University Plainsman Invite (Feb. 23-25, Auburn, Ala.) and Arkansas Woo Pig Classic (Mar. 1-3, Fayetteville, Ark.).

Senior Driven
The Redhawks have seven seniors on their 2024 roster. Paige Halliwill, Zoe Schulte, Abigail Rickermann, Paytience Holman, Kat Sackett, Kynzie Wrigley and Marissa Peek are Southeast Missouri's veterans. They have combined for 101 wins during their careers. Holman, Rickermann and Wrigley have been a part of two Ohio Valley Conference Championship teams (2021, 2023).

Pitching Depth
Southeast Missouri has five pitchers on this year's team giving Mark Redburn the most depth he's had inside the circle as the Redhawks head coach. First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference honoree Delaney Kell returns as well as fifth-year senior Paytience Holman. Kell went 14-3 in 26 games and 16 starts a year ago. She went undefeated at 9-0 with a 1.94 ERA in league play alone. Kell led the Redhawks with 73 strikeouts in 109.2 innings. Holman recorded six wins in 23 appearances and 14 starts. She struck out 46 in 96.2 innings and tied for first on the team with three saves last season. Freshmen Willow Van Haren (LHP), Tegan Livesay (RHP) and Maddie Carney (RHP) will make their college debuts in 2024.

Top Four Hitters Back
The Redhawks top four hitters in Zoe Schulte, Paige Halliwill, Aubrie Shore and Abigail Rickermann are back for a Southeast Missouri offense which led the Ohio Valley Conference with a .308 batting average in 2023. Schulte led the Redhawks with a .371 clip, while Halliwill hit .352, Shore hit .347 and Rickermann hit .338. Halliwill topped SEMO in runs (31) and hits (44), while Shore led the team in home runs (7) and RBI (33). As a team, the Redhawks also led the OVC in on-base percentage (.388) and triples (13).

Returning All-OVC Performers
Five All-Ohio Valley Conference performers from a year ago return to this year's team. First baseman Aubrie Shore is the league's reigning Player of the Year. Shore also earned first-team honors and was named NFCA Third-Team All-Mideast Region in 2023. Catcher Kat Sackett, pitcher Delaney Kell and outfielder Paige Halliwill joined Shore as first-team selections. Second baseman Sydney Dennis claimed Second-Team All-OVC accolades and outfielder Zoe Schulte landed a spot on the 12-member OVC All-Newcomer Team.

Redburn in 10th Year
Mark Redburn is in his 10th year as Southeast Missouri's head coach. Redburn has orchestrated an outstanding turnaround that has seen the Redhawks win 30 or more games in four of the last six seasons, claim three Ohio Valley Conference regular- season titles (2019, 2021, 2023), win one OVC Tournament crown (2019) and earn one NCAA Tournament berth (2019). He is 238-185 overall and 121-73 in the OVC at the SEMO helm.

Six-Straight Winning Seasons
The Redhawks had winning seasons in six-straight years. Southeast Missouri posted 30 or more wins in four of those seasons (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022). SEMO went 29-14 overall and 20-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023. The 20 OVC wins were the Redhawks second- most in a season in program history.

30-Game Home Winning Streak
Southeast Missouri carries a program record 30-game home winning streak into its 2024 season. SEMO went undefeated at home each of the last two years going 13-0 in 2023 and 14-0 in 2022. The Redhawks also won their final three home games of the 2021 campaign. SEMO's last home loss was vs. Eastern Kentucky (4-1) on Apr. 18, 2021.

Team 48
The 2024 club is the 48th team in Southeast Missouri's softball history. This year's roster consists of 25 players, including seven seniors, six juniors, two sophomores and 10 freshmen. SEMO also returns seven starters and two starting pitchers. Three of those returning starters, including Paige Halliwill, Aubrie Shore and Kat Sackett started ever game in 2023.

Softball Success
In the last six seasons, Southeast Missouri softball teams have won a total of 180 games for an average of 30 per year during that span. SEMO 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 Redburns head coaching tenure. In terms of winning percentage, softball has been the winningest program in SEMO Athletics with a .619 clip in the last seven years. Over that time, the Redhawks accumulated 203 victories, won 99 OVC games and boasted a .692 winning percentage in conference action.

Reflecting on 2023
In 2023, Southeast Missouri ranked first in the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average (.308), ERA (2.70), triples (13) and opposing batting average (.230). Pitching wise, the Redhawks gave up the fewest hits (244), runs (128), earned runs (107) and walks (82) of anyone in the league. SEMO ripped through its OVC schedule outscoring opponents by a staggering +107 margin (149-42) along the way. The Redhawks led the conference in batting average (.358), on-base percentage (.441), slugging percentage (.547), runs (149), hits (209), triples (12), doubles (41), RBI (138) and total bases (319) in league games. SEMO posted series sweeps against six of its eight conference opponents. Additionally, the Redhawks had a 16-game conference winning streak from Mar. 18-Apr. 30 that year.

Redhawks Sign Two for 2025
Outfielder Selby Patberg and infielder Addisyn Martinie signed with the Southeast Missouri softball program and will join the Redhawks in 2024-25. A native of Mt. Carmel, Illinois, Patberg is a three-year starter at Mt. Carmel High School. She earned First-Team All-Conference, Second-Team All-State and Extra Innings Softball First-Team All-America honors as a junior. That year, Patberg led the team in stolen bases (27), runs scored (47), hits (49) and triples (2). She also hit .521 and boasted a team-high .591 on-base percentage. Patberg has 96 runs scored and 54 steals in her prep career to date. She plays club softball for Matt Gerth and the Indiana Magic Gold team. Martinie, who hails from St. Joseph, Illinois, is a three-year starter at St. Joseph Ogden High School. She garnered All-Conference, All-State and All-Area accolades each of her last two seasons and was named her team's Rookie of the Year as a freshman. Martinie presently holds a .419 batting average with 34 home runs and 119 RBI in her high school career. As a junior, she hit .439 with 17 home runs and 57 RBI. Before that, Martinie hit .467 as a sophomore and .352 as a freshman. She plays club softball for the Peoria Sluggers and SEMO alum Renee (Enos) Gass.

2024 OVC Softball Tournament
The 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship will be held May 8-11 at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Illinois. It marks the first time the event has been held at the venue.