Southern Mississippi Black & Gold Challenge

Tournament Information
Dates: Thursday-Sunday, February 12-15, 2026
Participating Teams: East Texas A&M (3-2); Grambling State (1-4); Jackson State (4-0); Marist (3-2); Missouri State (2-3); Rhode Island (0-0); Southeast Missouri (0-5)
Location: Commerce, Texas
Facility: Southern Miss Softball Complex (1,000)
Surface: Turf
Series Records: vs. East Texas A&M (First Meeting); vs. Grambling State (8-0); vs. Jackson State (7-2); vs. Marist (First Meeting); vs. Missouri State (9-30)

Schedule
Thursday, February 12 - at East Texas A&M, 2 p.m., CT | Watch | Live Stats
Thursday, February 12 - vs. Grambling State, 4:30 p.m., CT | Watch | Live Stats
Friday, February 13 - vs. Jackson State, 1:30 p.m., CT | Watch | Live Stats
Saturday, February 14 - vs. Marist, 9 a.m., CT | Watch | Live Stats
Saturday, February 14 - vs. Missouri State, 1:30 p.m., CT | Watch | Live Stats

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Game Notes: Southeast Missouri
Media Guide: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Head to Texas
•    Southeast Missouri (0-5) heads to Commerce, Texas for the East Texas A&M Lion Invitational.
•    SEMO faces tournament host East Texas A&M (2 p.m.) and Grambling State (4:30 p.m.) Thursday, Jackson State (1:30 p.m.) Friday and Marist (9 a.m.) and Missouri State (1:30 p.m.)
Saturday.

Tournament Field
•    East Texas A&M (Southland Conference), Grambling State (Southwestern Athletic Conference), Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference), Marist (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), Rhode Island (Atlantic 10) and Southeast Missouri (Ohio Valley Conference) form this year's seven-team field at the Lion Invitational.
•    SEMO will play five of the the six opposing school's at the event. Rhode Island is the only team the Redhawks will not face.

Series Records
•    Southeast Missouri is a combined 24-32 against teams heading to this year's Lion Invitational.
•    SEMO will face East Texas A&M and Marist for the first time in its softball history.
•    The Redhawks are 8-0 all-time vs. Grambling State, 7-2 vs. Jackson State and 9-30 vs. Missouri State.
•    SEMO concludes its five-game tournament slate against in-state foe Missouri State Saturday. It will mark the 39th meeting between the schools.

Redburn vs. Lion Invitational Opponents
•    Mark Redburn is 3-0 against Grambling State, 4-0 vs. Jackson State and 9-16 vs. Missouri State as a head coach.
•    Southeast Missouri last played Grambling State (W, 4-1) on Feb. 22, 2020, Jackson State (W, 13-2) on Feb. 12, 2017 and Missouri State (L, 0-3) on Mar. 3, 2023.

Tournament Play
•    As has been the case in years past, Southeast Missouri will spend its first several weeks of its season outside of Cape Girardeau.
•    SEMO plays its first 20 games across four different tournaments in four different states.
•    The Redhawks opened the season at the Southern Mississippi Black & Gold Challenge (Feb. 6-8).
•    After this week's trip to East Texas A&M,  the Redhawks head to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Woo Pig Classic (Feb. 20-22) and Stillwater/Tulsa, Oklahoma for a tournament (Feb. 27-Mar. 1).

Opening Weekend
•    Southeast Missouri opened its 2026 season at the Southern Mississippi Black & Gold Challenge (Feb. 6-8).
•    Madison Winkler and Kamden Hutton each hit .400 through SEMO's five games at the event.
•    Winkler recorded two hits against Southern Mississippi (Feb. 6) and Lipscomb (Feb. 7), while Hutton had a two-hit performance vs. Lipscomb (Feb. 7).
•    The Redhawks had a eight hits and four runs vs. Lipscomb (Feb. 7).

SEMO Debuts
•    Nine players, including Kamden Hutton, Raigan Brannon, Lilly Blagoue, Jazmine Manau, Lily Delmain, Sydney Miles, Kaylyn Yamnitz, Lesleigh Maynard and Jaylie Walther all played in their first career games at Southeast Missouri during the Southern Mississippi Black & Gold Challenge (Feb. 6-8).
•    Hutton (4), Brannon (3), Blagoue (2) and Manau (1) each made at least one start.

Luna Homers 
•    Gracie Luna hit her team's first home run of the season when she belted a two-run smash over the left field wall against Southern Mississippi (Feb. 8).
•    Luna gave SEMO a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning of that game.
•    It was the 11th home run of Luna's career.

Saysoff Can Pitch Too 
•    Brooklyn Saysoff made her first career pitching appearance for Southeast Missouri when she struck out one in two-thirds of an inning vs. Louisiana Tech (Feb. 7).
•    Pitcher is the fourth different position Saysoff has played in her career with the Redhawks.
•    Prior to making her pitching debut, she started 11 games at shortstop, 53 at third base and 11 at second base.

Shore Back in the Lineup
•    Aubrie Shore, who missed the entire 2025 season due to injury, started the first five games of the 2026 campaign at first base.
•    Shore recorded two hits with a single against both Louisiana Tech (Feb. 7) and Southern Mississippi (Feb. 8) at the Black & Gold Challenge. She also had one RBI vs. UAB (Feb. 6).