2024 Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship

Game Information
Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024
First Pitch: 10 a.m., CT
Opponent: #3 Tennessee State, #6 Lindenwood, or #7 Tennessee Tech
Location: Peoria, Ill.
Facility: Louisville Slugger Sports Complex

Tournament Information
Dates: Wednesday, May 8 - Saturday, May 11, 2024
Participating Teams: #1 Eastern Illinois (38-15), #2 Southeast Missouri (25-24), #3 Tennessee State (24-23), #4 Southern Indiana (22-20), #5 UT Martin (30-21), #6 Lindenwood (25-24), #7 Tennessee Tech (22-22), #8 SIU Edwardsville (18-33)
Bracket: OVCSports.com
Tournament Central: OVCSports.com
Facility: Louisville Slugger Sports Complex

Follow the Redhawks 
Video: ESPN+ (Max Thoma, Kristen Dell)
Live Stats: OVCSports.com
X: @SEMOSoftball
Southeast Missouri OVC Tournament Guide

Postseason Begins
#2 Southeast Missouri (25-24) opens postseason play at the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship Thursday. SEMO faces either #6 Lindenwood, #7 Tennessee Tech or #3 Tennessee State at 10 a.m., CT. This year's tournament will be held at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Illinois.

Follow the Redhawks
Live stats for all games of the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship will be available at OVCSports.com. Video for all games can be accessed at ESPN+ with Max Thoma and Kristen Dell calling the action. Updates will be provided on X @SEMOSoftball.

Tournament Field
The 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship field consists of #1 Eastern Illinois (38-15), #2 Southeast Missouri (25-24), #3 Tennessee State (24-23), #4 Southern Indiana (22-20), #5 UT Martin (30-21), #6 Lindenwood (25-24), #7 Tennessee Tech (22-22) and #8 SIU Edwardsville (18-33). EIU won this year's regular-season title and is the hottest team going into this week's tournament with a six-game winning streak.

OVC Tournament Appearances
The 2024 campaign marks Southeast Missouri's 22nd Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearance. SEMO's other trips to the league's postseason event came in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. This year marks the Redhawks seventh trip to the OVC Tournament under Head Coach Mark Redburn. SEMO has made the tournament six-straight years.

OVC Tournament Titles
Southeast Missouri has won six Ohio Valley Conference Tournament titles, second-most among the league's current members. SEMO won the event in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2019. Tennessee Tech leads the OVC with seven tournament crowns.

Tournament Record
The Redhawks are 49-34 all-time in Ohio Valley Conference Tournament play. Southeast Missouri made the championship round in two of its last four appearances. Southeast Missouri heads to the eight-team tournament as a #2 seed for the third time in program history.

Redburn at the OVC Tournament
Mark Redburn is 10-11 in six Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearances as Southeast Missouri's head coach. Redburn led SEMO to one OVC Tournament title and the program's last NCAA Tournament berth in 2019. Overall, he has guided the Redhawks to three OVC regular-season championships (2019, 2021, 2023) and one OVC Tournament crown (2019).

#2 Seed
Southeast Missouri is the #2 seed for the third time in its Ohio Valley Conference Tournament history. SEMO also went to the 2001 and 2009 tournaments as the #2. The Redhawks are 3-4 all-time and have never won the OVC Tournament as a #2 seed. SEMO is a top-two seed in the league's postseason tournament for the fourth time in six years.

Quite the Turnaround
After starting the 2024 season with a 4-15 record, Southeast Missouri went 21-9 in its last 30 games. Along the way, SEMO took down #11 Missouri (Apr. 3), posted six series wins and claimed four series sweeps. The Redhawks also had a 10-game winning streak in Ohio Valley Conference play from Apr. 14-May 4. SEMO enters the postseason with wins in 13 of its last 17 contests dating back to the start of April.

19 OVC Wins
Southeast Missouri wrapped up its 2024 regular-season with a 19-8 record in Ohio Valley Conference play, finishing second behind Eastern Illinois (22-5). It marked the third time in four seasons where SEMO won 19 or more league games. Since 2021, the Redhawks won 78 conference games for an average of 19.5 per season in that stretch. The 19 OVC wins were second-moste in the league this year.

New OVC Tournament Site
For the first time, the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship will be played at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Illinois. This year will be the 30th all-time OVC Softball Championship. The Louisville Slugger Sports Complex has a signature diamond (Petersen Hotels Field) that is among 10 softball fields. The field features a completely synthetic surface; grand stand seating for 1,000 with additional, covered bleachers extending down each base line; a video board in right centerfield; night-game lighting; sunken dugouts equipped with a restroom in each; batting cages; and a concessions and merchandise stand. The stadium also is adjacent to a secondary stadium field and in close proximity to eight additional diamonds, as well as a 125,000-square-foot dome large enough for two more indoor fields.

After Five Innings
Southeast Missouri is 20-0 when leading after five innings this season. SEMO has rallied to score a total of 49 runs after the fifth inning in 2024. Twenty-eight of those tallies came against Ohio Valley Conference foes.

Going, Going, Gone
The Redhawks used a pair of long balls to beat UT Martin, 4-0, on May 4. Kat Sackett hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Marissa Peek added a solo shot in the third. For Sackett, it was her fourth round-tripper of the season. Meanwhile, Peek picked up her team-high seventh home run.

Another Shutout for Holman
Paytience Holman tossed her team-best fourth shutout of the season when she threw seven innings with three hits allowed and four strikeouts to beat UT Martin (May 4). Three of Holman's complete game shutouts came in Ohio Valley Conference play. She also shutout Lindenwood (Apr. 20) and Western Illinois (Apr. 26). Holman now ranks 10th all-time among SEMO's career leaders with 12 shutouts.

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.

Scoring Early and Often
Southeast Missouri finished as the Ohio Valley Conference's top scoring team in league games. SEMO scored 147 runs and outscored its opponents by a +79 margin. The Redhawks outscored OVC foes by a count of 40-13 in the first inning alone.

Rickermann Third in OVC in Hitting 
Abigail Rickermann is hitting .387, third-best in the Ohio Valley Conference. Rickermann is one of just three players in the league hitting over .380 this year. SIU Edwardsville's Paige Rocha (.411) and UT Martin's Kaci Fuller (.395) are the others.

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 353 wins during his tenures at SEMO (263) and Evansville (90).

Honors Update
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 completed four series sweeps in 2024. SEMO beat Western Illinois (Apr. 26-27), 6-0, 9-1 and 8-1. The Redhawks 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. SEMO has a total of 36 series sweeps in conference play under Head Coach Mark Redburn.

Series Wins
The Redhawks posted a total of six series wins this season. Southeast Missouri swept Western Illinois (Apr. 26-27), 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).

Program Record
The Redhawks broke a program record for most runs in a series when they put up 37 in three games at Morehead State (Apr. 14-15). Southeast Missouri outscored MSU, 37-8, in its series sweep. SEMO scored double-digit runs in all three of those contests. The previous record was 30 runs vs. Tennessee Tech (2023) and at Tennessee State (2002).

Riding Momentum
Southeast Missouri went 13-4 in its last two months of the 2024 campaign. During that stretch, SEMO recorded four series wins with three of those being sweeps. The Redhawks also posted double-digit hits nine times and scored 10 or more runs on three occasions.

One-Run Games
The Redhawks have been involved in 12 one-run games this season. Southeast Missouri is 6-6 in those contests. SEMO's one-run wins came vs. Stony Brook (5-4, Feb. 11), at SIU Edwardsville (3-2, Mar. 16), vs. Tennessee State (4-3. Mar. 24), at #11 Missouri (1-0, Apr. 3) and vs. Lindenwood (1-0, Apr. 20; 1-0, Apr. 21).

Double-Digit Hits
Southeast Missouri pounded out 10 or more hits in eight of its last 15 games. SEMO finished with double-digit hits a total of 13 times this season. The Redhawks had a season-high 14 hits vs. Tennessee State (Mar. 23) and at Morehead State (Apr. 14).

Over .300 Hitters
Four Redhawks are hitting over .300 through 49 games this season. Abigail Rickermann leads the way hitting .387. Tori Bradley (.354), Aubrie Shore (.338) and Paige Halliwill (.328) are the others.

Holman Among OVC Leaders
Paytience Holman ranks among the top 10 Ohio Valley Conference pitchers in earned run average (7th, 2.39), innings (8th, 132), strikeouts (9th, 73), strikeouts looking (7th, 22), wins (4th, 14), appearances (10th, 29) and games started (t4th, 24). Holman went 10-4 with 16 starts in OVC play.

Battle Tested
A tough 18-game stretch over four different tournaments tested the Redhawks early in their 2024 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 played the toughest schedule in the OVC and presently the 75th toughest schedule among the nation's 307 NCAA Division I softball programs. The Redhawks played 12 games against teams in the top 75 of this year's NCAA Division I Softball RPI.

Let's Turn Two
Southeast Missouri turned an Ohio Valley Conference leading 20 double plays through 49 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 eight runners on the basepaths this season. Peek is tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference in caught stealing by.

Among OVC Home Run Leaders
Marissa Peek and Paige Halliwill rank among the Ohio Valley Conference's home run leaders. Peek is tied for third with seven home runs and Halliwill is tied for sixth with six. As a team, Southeast Missouri has 22 home runs.

Every Game Starter
Aubrie Shore is the only player who has started every game for Southeast Missouri this season. Shore made all 49 of her starts at first base.

Extra Base Hits
Southeast Missouri registered 94 extra base hits in 49 games this season. SEMO has 68 doubles, four triples and 22 home runs.