Southeast Missouri (24-22, 18-6 OVC) at UT Martin (28-20, 13-11 OVC)

Series Information
Dates: Saturday, May 4 - Sunday, May 5, 2024
Schedule: Saturday, 2 p.m. (DH); Sunday, 1 p.m., CT
Location: Martin, Tenn.
Facility: Bettye Giles Field
Series History: SEMO leads, 74-48
Head Coaches: Mark Redburn (476-456 Overall; 262-207 at SEMO; 139-79 OVC). Chelsea Farmer (28-20 Overall; 28-20 at UTM; 13-11 OVC).

Follow the Redhawks 
Game 1: Live Stats
Game 2: Live Stats
Game 3: ESPN+ | Live Stats
X: @SEMOSoftball
Notes: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Close Out Regular-Season at UT Martin
Southeast Missouri (24-22, 18-6) wraps up its regular-season with a three-game series at UT Martin (28-20, 13-11) this weekend. SEMO and UTM will play a 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday followed by a 1 p.m., CT contest Sunday.

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats will be available online at UTMSports.com. Video can be accessed at ESPN+ for Sunday's game only. Updates will be provided on X @SEMOSoftball.

Series History
Southeast Missouri and UT Martin meet for the 123rd time in the Ohio Valley Conference finale for both teams. SEMO is 74-48 all-time against UTM. The Redhawks won 11 of the last 12 games of the series and swept the Skyhawks in each of their last two trips to Martin. SEMO is 30-22 against UTM at Bettye Giles Field. Additionally, the Redhawks 74 wins vs. UTM are their most against any OVC opponent.

Red-Hot Redhawks
The Redhawks are on a nine-game Ohio Valley Conference winning streak as the hottest team in the league heading into the final stretch of the season. Southeast Missouri has heated up to win 12 of its last 14 games. Since starting the season at 4-15, the Redhawks have gone 20-7 in their last 27 contests.

OVC Regular-Season Title in Reach 
Southeast Missouri (18-6) is right behind Eastern Illinois (19-5) in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with three games remaining. SEMO, tabbed this year's preseason favorite, will win the OVC title outright if it sweeps UT Martin and EIU loses twice to Lindenwood. The Redhawks will earn a share of the OVC crown if they win two against the Skyhawks and the Panthers lose twice, or if they beat UTM once and EIU is swept.

If it Happens
If the Redhawks win the Ohio Valley Conference championship, it will be their fourth since the 2019 campaign, all of which came under Head Coach Mark Redburn. Southeast Missouri won the regular-season title in 2019, 2021 and 2023. If SEMO wins the 2024 OVC regular-season crown, it will be the first time the Redhawks repeat as OVC regular-season champions since 1998 and 1999.

OVC Tournament Picture
Seven of eight teams have locked up a spot in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, including Eastern Illinois, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State, Southern Indiana, UT Martin, Lindenwood and Tennessee Tech. The final spot will go to either SIU Edwardsville or Morehead State. Seeding for the eight-team field will be determined after Sunday's games.

Top-Two Seed
Southeast Missouri will be either a #1 or #2 seed in the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. SEMO can claim the #1 seed with a series sweep of UT Martin and two Eastern Illinois losses this weekend. If the Redhawks are the #1 seed, they will play at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 9. If SEMO is the #2 seed, it will play at 10 a.m., CT that same day. This year's OVC Tournament will be from May 8-11 at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Illinois.

Awesome April
The Redhawks concluded April with a 12-2 record and 11-1 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play. Southeast Missouri posted three-straight series sweeps to finish the month. SEMO hit .324 and outscored its opponents by a +46 margin (122-76) in April alone.

Home Finale
Southeast Missouri swept Western Illinois in its home finale on Apr. 26-27. SEMO outscored WIU, 23-2, in three games. The Redhawks put the Leathernecks over 30 losses and gave WIU its 20th Ohio Valley Conference defeat this year.

Scoring Early and Often
In Ohio Valley Conference play, Southeast Missouri is the top scoring team. SEMO had dominated the runs column outscoring opponents by a hefty +80 (139-59) margin. The Redhawks are averaging nearly six runs a game (5.79) per league contest. SEMO scored 35 of its runs in the first inning, where it holds a 35-13 advantage.

Rickermann Third in OVC in Hitting 
Abigail Rickermann is hitting .402, third-best in the Ohio Valley Conference. Rickermann is one of just three players in the league hitting over .400 this year. SIU Edwardsville's Paige Rocha (.414) and UT Martin's Kaci Fuller (.405) are the others.

Redhawks at Home
The Redhawks finished 12-5 at home this season marking the sixth-straight year Southeast Missouri posted a winning record at home. In the last four seasons, SEMO went a combined 52-9 at the Southeast Softball Complex. Overall, the Redhawks are 94-41 (.696) on their home diamond in 10 years with Mark Redburn at the helm.

Senior Salute
Seven seniors, including Paige Halliwill, Paytience Holman, Marissa Peek, Abigail Rickermann, Kat Sackett, Zoe Schulte and Kynzie Wrigley played their last home games at Southeast Missouri Apr. 26-27. This year's senior class led SEMO's softball program to 125 wins and two Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles.

Redburn Surpasses 350 Wins as NCAA Division I Head Coach 
With Southeast Missouri's series sweep of Western Illinois (Apr. 26-27), Mark Redburn went over 350 career wins as an NCAA Division I head coach. Redburn has a total of 352 wins during his tenures at SEMO (262) and Evansville (90).

Redhawks Sweep OVC Weekly Honors 
For the first time in 2024, Southeast Missouri swept the Ohio Valley Conference weekly softball honors when outfielder Paige Halliwill was named Player of the Week and Paytience Holman was voted Pitcher of the Week Apr. 29. A native of Mogadore, Ohio, Halliwill claimed her second OVC Player of the Week award this season. She put together an outstanding week hitting .583 with six runs scored, a double, two triples, one home run and five RBI in four games. Halliwill finished with multiple hits in two games and went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two RBI, a triple and walk-off home run to give SEMO a 9-1 win in five innings during game two of its series against Western Illinois. She tripled in each of the last two games of the Redhawks sweep of the Leathernecks. Halliwill also boasted a 1.250 slugging percentage and .538 on-base percentage for the week. Holman, who hails from Mexico, Missouri, went 2-0 with a staggering 0.57 ERA in two starts. She allowed only one earned run and struck out six in 12.1 innings of work. Holman threw a complete game shutout with five strikeouts and just two hits allowed in game two of SEMO's series against WIU. She then pitched 5.1 innings, scattered just two hits and had one strikeout to complete the Redhawks third- straight series sweep. SEMO last won both OVC weekly accolades on Mar. 29, 2021.

Atop the OVC
Abigail Rickermann and Paige Halliwill are the Ohio Valley Conference's top two hitters in conference play. Rickermann is hitting .443 and Halliwill is hitting .438 through 24 OVC contests. Both also lead the league with a .494 on-base percentage. Meanwhile, freshman Maddie Carney is first in the OVC with a 1.30 ERA in conference games.

Honors Count
Southeast Missouri won a total of four Ohio Valley Conference weekly awards this season. SEMO has three OVC Player of the Year honors and one OVC Pitcher of the Week accolade. Catcher Marissa Peek (Mar. 18) and outfielder Paige Halliwill (Apr. 15, Apr. 29) accounted for the OVC Player of the Week honors and right-hander Paytience Holman (Apr. 29) won the team's only OVC Pitcher of the Week award.

Get Out the Brooms
Southeast Missouri posted its fourth series sweep of the season when it beat Western Illinois (Apr. 26-27), 6-0, 9-1 and 8-1. SEMO also defeated Lindenwood (Apr. 20-21) by scores of 1-0, 4-0 and 1-0, Morehead State (Apr. 14-15) by scores of 10-1, 14-4 and 13-3 and SIU Edwardsville (Mar. 16-17) with 3-0, 3-2 and 7-4 victories. The Redhawks have a total of 36 series sweeps in conference play under Head Coach Mark Redburn.

Series Wins
The Redhawks earned their sixth series win when they swept Western Illinois (Apr. 26-27). Southeast Missouri also swept Lindenwood (Apr. 20-21), Morehead State (Apr. 14-15) and SIU Edwardsville (Mar. 16-17), and took two of three against Tennessee Tech (Apr. 6-7) and Tennessee State (Mar. 23-24) for its other series wins this year. SEMO posted three-straight series sweeps.

Approaching 20 OVC Wins
Southeast Missouri (18-6) is two wins away from getting 20 Ohio Valley Conference victories this season. If SEMO hits the mark, it will be the third time in four seasons where the Redhawks won 20 or more league games. SEMO has won 20 or more OVC games in a season a total of five times (22-4 in 1995; 22-2 in 1996; 20-5 in 1997; 23-6 in 2021; 20-2 in 2023) in program history. Additionally, the Redhawks won 15 or more league contests six years in a row.

Holman Among Career Pitching Leaders 
Paytience Holman ranks among Southeast Missouri's career pitching leaders in saves (t6th, 5), appearances (7th, 105), games started (7th, 75), shutouts (10th, 11) and strikeouts (10th, 252). Holman also has 34 wins in her career.

First in OVC Play
Southeast Missouri Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average (.324), runs scored (139), slugging percentage (.460), on-base percentage (.388), hits (220), RBI (124), doubles (42), total bases (312) and at-bats (678) through 24 league games. SEMO collected double-digit hits in 11 conference games.

Lots of Momentum
Southeast Missouri has won 12 of its last 15 games. During that stretch, SEMO recorded four series wins with three of those being sweeps. The Redhawks also posted double-digit hits eight times and scored 10 or more runs on three occasions. SEMO outscored its last two Ohio Valley Conference opponents by a combined 29-2 in six games.

Rickermann On a Roll
Abigail Rickermann hit safely in 20 of her last 24 games and had multiple hits nine times during that span. She tied a career-high three hits vs. Tennessee Tech (Apr. 6) and Western Illinois (Apr. 26). Rickermann leads the Redhawks with a .402 batting average and .463 on-base percentage.

Rickermann Clears 100 Career Hits
Abigail Rickermann had six hits in Southeast Missouri's recent series sweep of Western Illinois (Apr. 26-27). As a result, Rickermann went over 100 hits in her career. She has 105 hits as the fourth player on this year's team with over 100 career hits.

Double-Digit Hits
Southeast Missouri pounded out 10 or more hits in seven of its last 12 games. SEMO finished with double-digit hits a total of 12 times this season. The Redhawks had a season-high 14 hits vs. Tennessee State (Mar. 23) and at Morehead State (Apr. 14).

Peek Power
Catcher Marissa Peek leads the Ohio Valley Conference in slugging percentage, home runs and RBI in conference games. Peek has a .815 slugging percentage, 25 RBI and all six of her home runs against league opponents.

Over .300 Hitters
Four Redhawks are hitting over .300 through 46 games this season. Abigail Rickermann leads the way hitting .402. Tori Bradley (.356), Paige Halliwill (.344) and Aubrie Shore (.326) are the others.

OVC Road Success
The Redhawks are 15-3 in their last 18 Ohio Valley Conference road games going back to the 2023 season. Southeast Missouri posted series sweeps at Tennessee Tech, Lindenwood, SIU Edwardsville and Morehead State for 12 of those victories.

Holman Among OVC Leaders
Paytience Holman ranks among the top 10 Ohio Valley Conference pitchers in earned run average (7th, 2.37), innings (8th, 121.1), strikeouts (10th, 62), strikeouts looking (t8th, 18), wins (4th, 13) and games started (t3rd, 22). Holman is 9-3 with 14 starts in OVC play.

Pulling Rank
Marissa Peek and Paige Halliwill rank among the Ohio Valley Conference's home run leaders. Both are tied for fifth with six home runs each. As a team, Southeast Missouri is second in the OVC with 20 round-trippers.

Every Game Starter
Aubrie Shore is the only player who has started every game for Southeast Missouri this season. Shore made all 46 of her starts at first base.

142 and Counting
Paige Halliwill has started 142 games during her Southeast Missouri career. Halliwill had a streak of 119 consecutive starts end in game two of the Redhawks doubleheader vs. Bradley (Mar. 12). It was the only game Halliwill did not play at SEMO.

About UT Martin
UT Martin is tied for fifth with Lindenwood in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. UTM enters the final leg of the season after winning six of its last eight games. The Skyhawks rank second in the OVC in batting average (.287), runs (220), RBI (203), triples (11), total bases (504) and at-bats (1308). Pitching wise, UTM leads the league in ERA (2.48) and opposing batting average (.234). Kaci Fuller ranks third in the OVC in batting average (.405), second in on-base percentage (.470), first in runs (45), second in hits (64) and first in triples (6). Brooklynn Linneman leads the OVC with a 1.43 ERA.