SIU Edwardsville (15-9, 6-0 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (12-9, 5-1 OVC)

Series Information
Dates: Friday-Saturday, March 21-22, 2025
Schedule: Friday, March 21, 5 p.m., CT; Saturday, March 22, 12 p.m., CT (DH)
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Southeast Softball Complex
Series Record: SIUE leads, 43-35
Last Meeting: SEMO 7, SIUE 4 | 3/17/24 | Edwardsville, Ill.
Last Meeting in Cape Girardeau: SEMO 5, SIUE 1 | 3/11/23

SIU Edwardsville Cougars
Head Coach: Ben Sorden
Record at SIUE: 64-70, 28-27 OVC
Overall Record: 64-70

Southeast Missouri Redhawks
Head Coach: Mark Redburn
Record at SEMO: 278-220, 145-82 OVC
Overall Record: 492-469

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X: @SEMOSoftball
Series Notes: Southeast Missouri
Media Guide: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Host OVC Leader SIU Edwardsville 
•    Southeast Missouri hosts Ohio Valley Conference leader SIU Edwardsville in a three-game series this weekend. SEMO and SIUE will play a single game at 5 p.m. Friday followed by a 12 p.m., CT doubleheader Saturday.
•    Video for all three games of this weekend's series can be accessed online at ESPN+.
•    SIUE and SEMO are currently first and second in the OVC standings, respectively. The Cougars are 6-0 and the Redhawks are 5-1 in league play.
•    Both the Cougars and Redhawks won each of their first two series in OVC action. Each are coming off series sweeps with SIUE winning three games vs. Tennessee Tech (Mar. 15-16) and SEMO beating Western Illinois (Mar. 14-15) three times.
•    The Redhawks posted series wins against six of their last seven OVC foes dating back to last season.

Series Notes
•    SIU Edwardsville holds a 43-35 advantage in the overall series against Southeast Missouri.
•    SEMO won seven of the last eight meetings between the teams and posted series sweeps against the Cougars each of the previous two years.
•    Mark Redburn is 13-15 all-time vs. SIUE as the Redhawks head coach.

OVC Series Wins
•    Southeast Missouri started Ohio Valley Conference play with back-to-back series wins.
•    SEMO took two of three in its OVC opening series vs. UT Martin (Mar. 8-9) and swept Western Illinois (Mar. 14-15) in its first conference road series of the year.
•    The Redhawks improved to 22-11 all-time in OVC openers.
•    SEMO also started league action with a win for the 11th time in its last 15 seasons.
•    The Redhawks won seven of their last eight home-openers and claimed an OVC opening series win for the seventh time under Head Coach Mark Redburn.
•    2025 marked SEMO's fifth-straight year where it started OVC play at home.

New Record
•    The Redhawks outscored Western Illinois, 40-12, in their series sweep in Macomb on Mar. 14-15.
•    Southeast Missouri's 40 runs established a new program record for most runs in a series.
•    SEMO's previous record was 37 runs in a three-game sweep of Morehead State on Apr. 14-15, 2024.
•    The Redhawks beat the Leathernecks by scores of 16-5, 15-4 (5 innings) and 9-3.

OVC Success
•    Since 2019, Southeast Missouri has won three Ohio Valley Conference championships, two OVC Tournament titles and made the NCAA Tournament twice.
•    SEMO finished among the top two teams in the OVC during four of the last five years.
•    The Redhawks won the OVC regular-season title in 2019, 2021 and 2023 (all odd years) during that span.
•    In its last five seasons, SEMO finished with 16 or more OVC victories. 
•    The Redhawks were 19-8 in 2024, 20-2 in 2023, 16-10 in 2022, 23-6 in 2021 and 17-5 in 2019.
•    SEMO averaged less than seven (6.5) league losses over the last six seasons. Since 2018, the Redhawks have gone 115-39 against OVC foes.
•    The reigning OVC Tournament Champion Redhawks will vye for their eighth OVC Tournament crown in 2025.
•    Mark Redburn is 145-82 all-time in OVC games. Redburn's 145 conference wins are the most among the league's 10 active head coaches.
•    SEMO had winning OVC records in each of the last six seasons.

About SIU Edwardsville
•    Ohio Valley Conference leader SIU Edwardsville is the only undefeated team remaining early in league play with a 6-0 record.
•    SIUE is on a four-game winning streak and leads the OVC in slugging percentage (.460), home runs (22) and total bases (261).
•    Lauren Yslava leads the Cougars with 24 runs scored, seven doubles and five home runs, while Kaylynn Salyars boasts a team-high .368 batting average.
•    Overall, SIUE's 15 wins are presently most among OVC teams.  

17-Game Hitting Streak for Dennis
•    Sydney Dennis enters the weekend on a career-best 17-game hitting streak.
•    Dennis' current hitting streak began vs. IU Indy on Feb. 22.
•    She finished with two or more hits in 10 of her last 13 contests.
•    Dennis' hitting streak is the longest by any Southeast Missouri player over the last seven years.
•    Rachel Anderson's 16-game hitting streak from Apr. 13-May 10, 2018 was the longest during that span prior to the 2025 campaign.
•    Dennis is hitting .525 with 13 runs scored, nine doubles, one triple, 15 RBI and three stolen bases during her hitting streak. She also has a .689 slugging percentage and .516 on-base percentage since her hitting streak began.
•    Currently, Boise State's Sophia Knight is on the longest hitting streak in NCAA Division I softball at 29 games (last two of 2024 and all 27 in 2025).

Dennis Leads OVC in Hitting
•    Sydney Dennis leads the Ohio Valley Conference with a .458 batting average through 21 games.
•    Dennis tops the team with 33 hits, nine doubles and 10 multiple-hit games.
•    In conference games, Dennis is hitting .560 with six runs, 14 hits, six doubles and eight RBI through OVC starts.
•    Nationally, Dennis ranks 37th in batting average and 12th in doubles per game (0.43).

Bombs Away
•    Southeast Missouri hit eight home runs in its series sweep of Western Illinois (Mar. 14-15).
•    Five different players homered in the series.
•    Sydney Melton, Gracie Luna and Hailey Burnett had two apiece, while Brooklyn Saysoff and Kinley Wilkins each had one.
•    It was the Redhawks most home runs in a series since they hit nine in a three-game sweep of Tennessee State on Mar. 19-20, 2022.
•    SEMO homered in seven-straight games and now has a total of 12 this season.
•    Melton and Luna lead the team with four round-trippers.

Good at Home
•    This weekend marks the second time Southeast Missouri will be on its home field in 2025.
•    SEMO is currently 2-1 at the Southeast Softball Complex following its series win over UT Martin (Mar. 8-9).
•    The Redhawks are 54-10 at the Southeast Softball Complex since the start of the 2021 season.
•    SEMO twice went undefeated at home during that stretch in 2022 (14-0) and 2023 (13-0).

Leading the OVC
•    Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average (.334), doubles per game (1.62), earned run average (3.11), hits (200), on-base percentage (.410), RBI per game (5.90), RBI (124), scoring (6.24 rpg), slugging percentage (.464), strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.52) and strikeouts per seven innings (4.96).
•    Individually, Sydney Dennis is first in the OVC in batting average (.458) and hits (33), Maddie Carney is first in earned run average (2.10) and hits allowed per seven innings (5.73), Brooklyn Saysoff leads the league in RBI (26) and RBI per game (1.24), and Gracie Luna is first in sacrifice flies (3).
•    Additionally, Dennis is tied for first in the OVC among hitters toughest to strikeout. She has struck out only three times in 72 at-bats.

First to 200 Hits
•    Southeast Missouri became the first Ohio Valley Conference team to 200 hits this season when it pounded out 42 in its series sweep of Western Illinois (Mar. 14-15).
•    SEMO outhit WIU by a +23 margin (42-19) with double-digit hits in all three contests.
•    The Redhawks are averaging 9.5 hits per game and had 11 or more hits in each of their last four contests.

Melton Has Big Weekend
•    Sydney Melton hit .500 with seven runs scored, a double, three home runs and five RBI to lead Southeast Missouri to four wins during its spring break last week.
•    Melton went 7-for-14 at the plate with multiple hits in three contests.
•    She homered in back-to-back games during SEMO's doubleheader sweep of Western Illinois (Mar. 14) and scored the Redhawks only run on a solo home run at Central Arkansas (Mar. 11).
•    Melton also boasted a 1.214 slugging percentage and .533 on-base percentage for the week.

RBI Time
•    Gracie Luna hit .428 (6-for-14) with five runs scored, three home runs and 10 RBI in her last four games.
•    Luna knocked in two or more runs in four of her last six starts.
•    Meanwhile, Brooklyn Saysoff added five hits, five runs scored, nine RBI and one home run during that span.
•    Saysoff and Luna are first and second on the team with 26 and 23 RBI this season, respectively.
•    Saysoff leads the Ohio Valley Conference in RBI, as well.

Milestones Ahead for Redburn
•    Mark Redburn is approaching two more milestones in his coaching career.
•    Redburn needs eight more victories to reach 500 career wins as a head coach. He has been a head coach for 21 years between stops at St. Charles Community College, Jefferson College, Evansville and Southeast Missouri.
•    Overall, Redburn is 492-469 as a head coach.
•    Redburn is also just five wins away from getting 150 Ohio Valley Conference victories.
•    He is 145-82 all-time in OVC games.

Wilkins Has Career Day
•    Kinley Wilkins had a career day when she went 2-for-3 with four runs scored, three RBI, one home run and two walks in Southeast Missouri's series opening win at Western Illinois (Mar. 14).
•    Wilkins established career-highs in hits, runs, RBI and home runs during that contest.
•    She is on a three-game hitting streak and has started in left field four-straight contests.

Getting On Base
•    Madison Winkler, Sydney Dennis and Sydney Melton have all reached base in 11 or more games in a row.
•    Winkler reached in 19-straight games, while Dennis and Melton have reached in 17 and 11 consecutive games, respectively.
•    As a team, Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference with a .410 on-base percentage and ranks 38th in the nation in that area.

Top Scoring Team in the OVC
•    Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring with 6.24 runs per game.
•    SEMO is also 47th in the nation in scoring.
•    The Redhawks are outscoring opponents, 131-80 (+51), through 21 games this season.
•    SEMO scored double-digit runs on five occasions with a season-high 16 at Western Illinois (Mar. 14).

Redhawks Heating Up
•    The Redhawks are on a four-game winning streak and have won seven of their last nine contests.
•    One more victory will give Southeast Missouri its longest winning streak of the season thus far.
•    SEMO, SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois are each on four-game winning streaks heading into this weekend.

OVC Update
•    Southeast Missouri is tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference with Eastern Illinois heading into this weekend's action.
•    Both SEMO and EIU are 5-1 in OVC play.
•    SIU Edwardsville tops the standings with a 6-0 mark.
•    SIUE (15-9), SEMO (12-9) and Tennessee State (12-7) are the three teams with winning records, while EIU and Lindenwood are .500 with 13-13 and 12-12 records, respectively.
•    Morehead State, which is on a 17-game losing streak, is last in the league at 1-25 overall and 0-6 in conference action.

Winkler Delivers
•    Madison Winkler hit a series-best .750 in the Redhawks three-game sweep of Western Illinois (Mar. 14-15).
•    Winkler went 6-of-8 at the plate with four runs scored, two doubles, a triple and five RBI.
•    She is tied for second on the team with a .383 batting average in her first year at Southeast Missouri.

Kell Approaching 20 Career Wins
•    Delaney Kell is one win away from reaching 20 in her career.
•    Kell is 19-9 in 53 appearances and 22 starts in her career.
•    She is tied for first on the team with three wins this season.

Over .300
•    Six Southeast Missouri starters are currently hitting .328 or better in a minimum of 19 starts.
•    Sydney Dennis leads the way with a .458 batting average. Sydney Melton (.383), Madison Winkler (.383), Tatum Gerwitz (.354), Brooklyn Saysoff (.342) and Gracie Luna (.328) round out the group.
•    Gerwitz and Saysoff are the only two Redhawks who have started all 21 games.

Off and Running
•    Southeast Missouri is 29-of-33 in stolen bases this season.
•    Tatum Gerwitz (9-of-10), Madison Winkler (7-of-8), Brooklyn Saysoff (5-of-5) and Sydney Dennis (4-of-4) combined for 25 of those stolen bases.
•    SEMO ranks fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference in that category.

Double-Digit Hits
•    Southeast Missouri pounded out a season-high 16 hits at Western Illinois (Mar. 14).
•    SEMO registered double-digit hits in four-straight games and six of its last nine contests.
•    The Redhawks had 10 or more hits eight times and are 8-0 in those games.