Southeast Missouri (12-20) at #12 Missouri (29-7)
Game Information
Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2024
First Pitch: 4 p.m., CT
Location: Columbia, Mo.
Facility: Mizzou Softball Stadium
Series History: Mizzou leads, 34-6
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (464-454 Overall; 250-205 at SEMO; 128-78 OVC). Larissa Anderson (330-178-1 Overall; 200-105 at Mizzou; 53-54 SEC).
Follow the Redhawks
Video: SEC Network+ (Nate Gatter, Brooke Wilmes)
Live Stats: MUTigers.com
X: @SEMOSoftball
SEMO Softball Notes: Southeast Missouri
Redhawks Face In-State Foe #12 Missouri
Southeast Missouri (12-20) travels to #12 Missouri (29-7) for a midweek matchup Wednesday. First pitch is set for 4 p.m., CT at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Follow the Redhawks
Wednesday's game will air on SEC Network+ with Nate Gatter and Brooke Wilmes calling the action in Columbia. Live stats will be available online at MUTigers.com. Updates will be provided on X @SEMOSoftball.
Series History
Missouri holds a 34-6 lead in its all-time series against Southeast Missouri. Mizzou won 20 of the last 21 meetings between the teams. SEMO's only win in that stretch was an 8-2 victory on Mar. 21, 2018 in Cape Girardeau. These teams last squared off five years ago on Apr. 23, 2019. The Tigers swept the Redhawks in a doubleheader that year. SEMO won the OVC regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament during the 2019 campaign.
Midweek Action
Wednesday's game marks just the third midweek contest for Southeast Missouri this season. SEMO is 1-1 in midweek games. The Redhawks split a doubleheader with Missouri Valley Conference member Bradley (Apr. 12) in Cape Girardeau. After this week, SEMO faces Saint Louis (Apr. 10) at home and travels to former Ohio Valley Conference foe Murray State (Apr. 23) for its final midweek matchups.
Ranked Opponents
#12 Missouri is the third ranked opponent Southeast Missouri squares off against in 2024. SEMO also played fellow SEC members #24 Auburn and #16 Arkansas earlier this year. SEMO is 0-4 against ranked opponents this season.
Power Four Schools
Missouri is the sixth Power Four team Southeast Missouri faces this season. SEMO is presently 1-7 against such teams with a win and one loss against Big Ten Conference foe Maryland, a loss to fellow Big Ten member Ohio State, a loss to ACC member Syracuse and two losses to SEC members and nationally-ranked Auburn and Arkansas. SEMO also faces a third SEC opponent in Missouri during its 2024 campaign.
Success Against Power Four
Southeast Missouri has had its share of success against Power Four teams under Head Coach Mark Redburn. In fact, SEMO has nine Power Four wins with Redburn at the helm. The Redhawks beat Maryland (2024), Ole Miss (2023), Iowa (2022), Texas Tech (2021), Arkansas (2019), Kansas (2019, two wins), Missouri (2018) and Georgia Tech (2017) during Redburn's career. SEMO has picked up a Power Four win in four-straight seasons.
Ties to the Area
Mark Redburn was an assistant softball coach at Missouri for three years (2007-2009) under Ehren Earleywine. During that time, the Tigers won 137 games. The 2009 Missouri team went 50-12 overall, won the Big 12 Tournament and finished eighth in the College World Series. Freshman infielder Sophie Schupp is the only player on Southeast Missouri's roster from Columbia. Schupp graduated from Rock Bridge High School.
Halfway Point
Southeast Missouri went 8-11 in March and is now halfway through its 2024 season. SEMO won eight of its last 13 games to finish the month strong. The Redhawks are presently tied for third in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with Tennessee State. SEMO holds the tiebreaker in that spot after winning the series against TSU on Mar. 23-24.
Redburn Gets 250th Win
With its 6-0 victory over Southern Indiana (Mar. 29), Southeast Missouri gave Mark Redburn his 250th win as the Redhawks head coach. Redburn is 250-205 in 10 years at the helm. His 250 wins are second-most all-time in program history.
Rickermann On a Roll
Abigail Rickermann is currently Southeast Missouri's hottest hitter. Rickermann hit safely in nine of her last 10 games and had multiple hits four times during that stretch. She leads the Redhawks with a .368 batting average.
Last Time Out
Southeast Missouri came up on the short end of a pair of one-run defeats in a series loss at Southern Indiana (Mar. 29-30). SEMO outhit (26-20) and outscored (11-7) USI in the series. The Redhawks picked up a 6-0 win for their only victory over the Screaming Eagles.
Nice Series for Affolter
Outfielder Brittany Affolter hit .600 (6-of-10) to lead Southeast Missouri's in its recent series at Southern Indiana (Mar. 29-30). Affolter got a hit in all three games and posted two hits in game one and a career-best three in game three. She enters the week on a four-game hitting streak.
Carney Tosses Gem
In just her third career start, freshman Maddie Carney allowed just four hits in six scoreless innings to beat Southern Indiana, 6-0, on Mar. 29. Carney had three strikeouts in her second-longest outing of the season. She is now 2-4 in the circle. Carney is tied for first on the team in appearances (19), second in innings pitched (51.1) and third in strikeouts (23).
One-Run Games
The Redhawks have been involved in nine one-run games this season. Southeast Missouri is 3-6 in those contests. SEMO's one-run wins came vs. Stony Brook (5-4, Feb. 11), at SIU Edwardsville (3-2, Mar. 16) and vs. Tennessee State (4-3. Mar. 24).
Double-Digit Hits
Southeast Missouri collected 11 hits in its series finale at Southern Indiana (Mar. 30). It marked the fifth time this season where SEMO had 10 or more hits in a game.
Peek Power
Catcher Marissa Peek leads the Ohio Valley Conference in slugging percentage and home runs in conference games. Peek has a .962 slugging percentage and all four of her home runs against league opponents. Overall, she is hitting .283 as Southeast Missouri's third-leading hitter.
Over .300
Southeast Missouri has two players hitting over .300 entering Wednesday's game at #12 Missouri. Abigail Rickermann is hitting .368 in 27 games and 16 starts. Aubrie Shore follows with a .330 average in 32 starts.
Holman Among OVC Leaders
Paytience Holman ranks among the top 10 Ohio Valley Conference pitchers earned run average (9th, 3.13), innings (8th, 78.1), strikeouts (10th, 47), strikeouts looking (t9th, 13), wins (5th, 7) and games started (t3rd, 15). Holman is 4-3 with eight starts in OVC play.
Battle Tested
A tough 18-game stretch over four different tournaments 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) in 2024. SEMO has played the toughest schedule in the OVC and presently the 84th toughest schedule among the nation's 307 NCAA Division I softball programs.
About Missouri
#12 Missouri is 29-7 overall and enters the week on a four-game winning streak. Mizzou recently wrapped up a four-game trip on the East coast. The Tigers beat Fordham (20-0), Hofstra (2-1), George Mason (11-2) and Villanova (7-0) by a combined 40-3 during that stretch. Alex Honnold leads Mizzou in batting average (.378), hits (42), doubles (16), triples (2), RBI (26) and slugging percentage (.640). Pitching wise, Cierra Harrison is 10-1 with a 1.62 ERA and 61 strikeouts through 17 appearances and 14 starts. The Tigers are sixth in the nation in RPI.
