Bradley (8-10) vs. Southeast Missouri (5-16)

Game Information
Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024
First Pitch: 1 p.m., CT (DH)
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Southeast Softball Complex
Series History: SEMO leads, 4-3
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (457-450 Overall; 243-201 at SEMO; 122-75 OVC). Sarah Willis (23-50 Overall; 23-50 at BU; 7-20 MVC).

Follow the Redhawks 
Game 1 - ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game 2 - ESPN+ | Live Stats
Twitter: @SEMOSoftball
SEMO Softball Notes: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Host Bradley
Southeast Missouri (5-16) welcomes Missouri Valley Conference member Bradley (8-10) for a midweek doubleheader Tuesday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., CT at the Southeast Softball Complex.

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats will be available online at SEMORedhawks.com. Video can be accessed at ESPN+. Updates will be provided on X @SEMOSoftball.

Series History
Southeast Missouri has a slight 4-3 edge in its overall series against Bradley. These teams meet on the softball diamond for the first time in 17 years. BU won the last matchup of the series, 3-2, in Cape Girardeau on Mar. 10, 2007. Mark Redburn coaches against the Braves for the first time as SEMO's head coach. Redburn is 5-9 lifetime against BU with all those contests coming during his tenure at the Evansville helm.

Former SEMO Assistant Coach 
Second-year Bradley Head Coach Sarah Willis was an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri for two seasons. Willis was on the Redhawks staff during the 2013 and 2014 seasons before Mark Redburn took over as head coach in 2015.

First Midweek Action
The Redhawks face Bradley in their first midweek matchup of the season during their spring break Tuesday. Southeast Missouri has won 34 midweek games with Mark Redburn as its head coach.

OVC Opening Weekend
Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois, the top two teams in this year's Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll, met to open league action in Cape Girardeau on Mar. 9-10. SEMO outscored EIU, 14-13, in the series, but the Panthers won two of three contests. EIU clinched the series win with a 2-1 victory on Mar. 10. Aubrie Shore hit .462 with six hits, four runs scored and three doubles to lead the Redhawks. Freshman Brooklyn Saysoff also had a nice OVC debut adding four hits in three starts.

Missouri Valley Teams
Bradley is one of two Missouri Valley Conference schools on the Redhawks schedule in 2024. Southeast Missouri faced Northern Iowa twice earlier this year at the Auburn Plainsman Invitational.

Marathon Game
Southeast Missouri's Ohio Valley Conference opener against Eastern Illinois went 12 innings and lasted three hours and 25 minutes before the Panthers won, 7-4. In terms of innings played, it matched the longest game in SEMO's NCAA Division I era.

Shore Reaches New Season-Highs 
Aubrie Shore started Southeast Missouri's series against Eastern Illinois by going 3-for-6 with three runs scored, two doubles and one RBI on Mar. 9. Shore established season-highs in hits, runs and doubles during that contest. It was the third two-double game of her career, as well.

Affolter Gets On Base
Left fielder Brittany Affolter reached base in seven-consecutive games. Affolter got on with a single in six of those matchups. She had a career-high three RBI vs. Eastern Illinois (Mar. 9). Affolter started 16 games for the Redhawks thus far.

Sackett Homers Again
Catcher Kat Sackett hit her second home run of the season with a solo shot to get Southeast Missouri within a run late in the series finale against Eastern Illinois (Mar. 10). Sackett finished the series strong with back-to-back two-hit games. She went 2-for-4 with a run scored, double and one RBI in game two and 2-for-3 with a run, home run and one RBI in game three. Sackett ranks second on the team in home runs and multiple-hit games (3) this year.

100 OVC Wins in Seven Years
Southeast Missouri's 9-4 win over Eastern Illinois (Mar. 9) marked the Redhawks 100th Ohio Valley Conference victory since the 2017 season. SEMO averaged 14 OVC wins per season and

First Career Win for Livesay 
Freshman Tegan Livesay picked up her first career win in the circle when she beat Eastern Illinois (Mar. 9). Livesay worked five innings, allowing four runs on four hits. She also struck out one in her second-longest start of the season to date.

Season-High in Hits
Southeast Missouri registered a season- high 12 hits to key its 9-4 victory over Eastern Illinois (Mar. 9). Aubrie Shore, Kat Sackett and Sophie Schupp each had two hits to pave the way. The Redhawks outhit the Panthers, 12-5, en route to getting double-digit hits for the second time this season.

OVC Update
Eastern Illinois, UT Martin and Lindenwood each claimed series wins during the opening weekend of Ohio Valley Conference play. Tennessee Tech and Morehead State are scheduled to complete their series Monday following changes to the initial schedule. Overall, EIU (14-8) and UT Martin (14-9) lead the conference with 14 victories. Five schools, including Tennessee Tech (9-6), Morehead State (7-6), EIU, UT Martin and Lindenwood (12-11) have winning records entering this week.

Battle Tested
A tough 18-game stretch over four different tournaments has prepared the Redhawks for their Ohio Valley Conference season. Southeast Missouri played two ranked opponents (#24 Auburn, #16 Arkansas), five Power Four teams (Ohio State, Maryland, Syracuse, Auburn, Arkansas), the Summit League preseason favorite (South Dakota State) and Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite (Northern Iowa) already in 2024. Arkansas (22) and Auburn (19) are among the Top-25 in the nation in RPI. SEMO has played the toughest schedule in the OVC and presently the 56th toughest schedule among the nation's 307 NCAA Division I softball programs.

Let's Turn Two
Southeast Missouri turned an Ohio Valley Conference leading nine double plays through 21 games this season. SEMO's defense had a season-high two double plays at Arkansas (Mar. 1).

Go Ahead I Dare You
Catcher Marissa Peek has thrown out four runners on the basepaths this season. Peek enters the week tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference in caught stealing by. She and Tennessee Tech's S.J. Talley share that spot.

Halliwill Second in the OVC in Home Runs
Paige Halliwill is tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference with three home runs. Halliwill homered vs. Stony Brook twice (Feb. 9, Feb. 11), and Northern Iowa (Feb. 24). She is one of six players in the league with a minimum of three home runs. Eastern Illinois' Rachel Kaufman (4) is the OVC's home run leader.

Shore Among OVC Leaders
Aubrie Shore ranks among the Ohio Valley Conference's top 10 leaders in hits (t8th, 22), RBI (t6th, 14), doubles (2nd, 9), total bases (6th, 34) and at-bats (6th, 67). Shore leads the Redhawks with six multi-hit games.

Shore Clears 100 Hits
With her six hits in Southeast Missouri's series against Eastern Illinois (Mar. 9-10), Aubrie Shore went over 100 hits in her career. Shore currently had 103 hits in 117 games and 114 starts. She is the second player on this year's roster with over 100 hits joining Kynzie Wrigley (122). Paige Halliwill is next closest to that mark with 96 career hits.

118 and Counting
Paige Halliwill has started every game of her Southeast Missouri career in center field. Halliwill has started 118 consecutive games.

About Bradley
Bradley went 15-40 overall in its first season with Sarah Willis as its head coach in 2023. This year, BU was picked 10th in the MVC's 12-member preseason poll. So far, the Braves have eight wins in their first 18 contests. Lauren DeRolf ranks third in the conference with a .418 batting average. DeRolf tops BU in runs (13), hits (23) and on-base percentage (.475), as well. Three more starters are hitting over .300, including Tori Meyer (.338), Ashley Breeding (.327) and Kierston McCoy (.321). As a team, the Braves are second in the MVC with a .282 batting average and last in fielding percentage (.944).