Eastern Illinois (12-7) vs. Southeast Missouri (4-14)

Series Information
Dates: Saturday, March 9 - Sunday, March 10, 2024
Schedule: Saturday, 1 p.m., CT (DH); Sunday, 1 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Southeast Softball Complex
Series History: SEMO leads, 49-40
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (456-448 Overall; 242-199 at SEMO; 121-73 OVC). Tara Archibald (107-87 Overall; 107-87 at EIU; 42-37 OVC).

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

One vs. Two
The top two teams in this year's Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll go head-to-head to open league play when Southeast Missouri (4-14) hosts Eastern Illinois (12-7) this weekend. SEMO and EIU play a three-game series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a 1 p.m., CT matchup Sunday.

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

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois meet for the 90th time. SEMO leads the all-time series 49-40. That record includes a 31-15 mark against the Panthers at the Southeast Softball Complex. The Redhawks are 7-1 in their last eight games against EIU in Cape Girardeau. Mark Redburn is 11-10 against EIU as SEMO's head coach.

OVC Openers
Southeast Missouri is 21-10 in Ohio Valley Conference openers. SEMO started league action with a win in 10 of the last 13 seasons.

121 OVC Wins
Mark Redburn currently has 121 Ohio Valley Conference wins, most among the league's 10 active head coaches. Redburn is 121-73 all-time in OVC play with three conference regular-season titles (2019, 2021, 2023), one OVC Tournament crown (2019) and one NCAA Tournament appearance (2019). He led the Redhawks to five-straight winning seasons in league action. Redburn's 2021 (23-6) and 2023 clubs (20-2) won the most conference games in a season. His 121 OVC wins are more than the rest of the league's head softball coaches conference victories combined (106).

30-Game Home Winning Streak
Southeast Missouri carries a program record 30-game home winning streak into its home-opening weekend against Eastern Illinois. 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.

Home-Openers
The Redhawks have a six-game winning streak in home-openers. Southeast Missouri posted series sweeps during its home-opening weekend each of the last two years.

OVC Clash
Southeast Missouri is the preseason favorite after winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title and securing the top seed in the conference's postseason tournament in 2023. Eastern Illinois was picked second behind the Redhawks. EIU won the OVC Tournament and represented the league at the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

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 (15th) and Auburn (18th) are among the Top-20 in the nation in RPI. SEMO has played the toughest schedule in the OVC and presently the 48th toughest schedule among the nation's 307 NCAA Division I softball programs.

Tournament Play
The Redhawks wrapped up tournament play at the Arkansas Wooo Pig Classic (Mar. 1-3). Southeast Missouri also competed at the Florida International Felsberg Invitational (Feb. 9-11), Southeastern Louisiana Lion Classic (Feb. 16-18) and Auburn Plainsman Invitational (Feb. 23-25).

Let's Turn Two
Southeast Missouri turned an Ohio Valley Conference leading nine double plays through 18 games this season. SEMO's defense had a season-high two double plays at Arkansas (Mar. 1) and registered a double play in each of its last four contests.

Go Ahead I Dare You
Catcher Marissa Peek has thrown out four runners on the basepaths this season. Peek enters the weekend tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference in caught stealing by. She and Tennessee State's Onnika Spencer share the top spot in that category.

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 four players in the league with a minimum of three home runs. Eastern Illinois' Rachel Kaufman (4), Tennessee State's Nahtali Simpson (3) and Morehead State's Trinity Spear (3) are the others. Hallwill reached base in six-straight games.

Shore Among OVC Leaders
Aubrie Shore heads into the start of Ohio Valley Conference play ranked tied for fifth among league leaders in both RBI (13) and doubles (6), and 10th in total bases (25). She also hit safely in 12 of her first 18 starts this season.

Holman Pitching Well
Paytience Holman recently worked 6. 2 innings in relief for her longest outing of the season at #16 Arkansas (Mar. 3). Holman allowed just two runs in that span. For the year, she started seven of her nine appearances, tossed one complete game and has a team-high 27 strikeouts in 42.2 innings. Holman is in the Top 10 of the Ohio Valley Conference in opposing batting average (8th, .250), innings pitched (7th, 42.2), strikeouts (t9th, 27), strikeouts looking (t9th, 6) and games started (t5th, 7).

Nice Tournament for Wrigley
Kynzie Wrigley singled in three of five starts at the Wooo Pig Classic last weekend. Wrigley had a base hit in three-straight games at Arkansas (Mar. 1), vs. South Dakota State (Mar. 2) and vs. Florida Atlantic (Mar. 2).

100s in Sight
Aubrie Shore is three hits away from reaching 100 in her career. Shore has 97 hits in 114 games and 111 starts as a Redhawk. When she reaches that mark, she will be the second player on this year's roster with 100 or more career hits, joining Kynzie Wrigley (122). Catcher Kat Sackett is approaching 100 career starts. Sackett has played in 109 games and logged 102 starts at Southeast Missouri.

Home Run Hitters
Paige Halliwill hit her team-high third home run against Northern Iowa at the Plainsman Invitational on Feb. 24. Halliwill also homered twice against Stony Brook (Feb. 9, Feb. 11). She has 13 home runs in her career. Meanwhile, Aubrie Shore has one home run this season (vs. Stony Brook, Feb. 11) and a total of 17 in her career. Shore needs one more to crack her program's Top-10 career home run list.

Every Game Starters
Two players, including Aubrie Shore and Paige Halliwill have started all 18 games this season. Shore started every game at first base and Halliwill made all of her starts in center field.

Freshman Experience
All 10 of the Redhawks freshmen have played this season. Brooklyn Saysoff, Gracie Luna, Tegan Livesay and Maddie Carney saw the most action of the group thus far. Saysoff started 11 games between second base (4), third base (4) and shortstop (3), while Luna has made six of her nine starts as designated player. Carney leads the team with 10 appearances, including eight in relief, while Livesay started five of her eight appearances.

115 and Counting
Paige Halliwill has started every game of her Southeast Missouri career in center field. Halliwill started 115 consecutive games.

About Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois is atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a 12-7 record heading into the first weekend of league play. EIU won five of its last six games and ranks second in the conference in both batting average (.287) and ERA (2.86). Jadin Justman (.372), Kendall Grover (.344), Rachel Kaufman (.344) and Briana Gonzalez (.320) are the Panthers top offensive threats. Pitching wise, McKenzie Oslanzi won the first three OVC Pitcher of the Week accolades this year. Oslanzi is 7-1 with a league-best 0.63 ERA, four complete games and three shutouts. She leads the OVC in opposing batting average (.172) and strikeouts (64), as well.