Southeast Missouri (14-23) at Evansville (16-20)

Game Information
Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2026
First Pitch: 5 p.m., CT
Location: Evansville, Ind.
Facility: Cooper Field (650)
Series Record: SEMO leads, 43-33
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoPurpleAces.com

Southeast Missouri (14-23) at Illinois (11-31)

Game Information
Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2026
First Pitch: 4 p.m., CT
Location: Champaign, Ill.
Facility: Eichelberger Field (1,500)
Series Record: First Meeting
Watch: BIG+
Live Stats: FightingIllini.com

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

Redhawks Hit the Road for Two Midweek Tilts
•    Southeast Missouri (14-23) opens a five-game week with back-to-back midweek road matchups.
•    SEMO visits Missouri Valley Conference member Evansville (16-20) for a 5 p.m., CT game Tuesday and Big Ten Conference foe Illinois (11-31) for a 4 p.m., CT contest Wednesday. 

Series Notes
•    Southeast Missouri meets Evansville for the 77th time in softball.
•    SEMO holds a 43-33 lead in the all-time series.
•    The Redhawks shutout the Purple Aces, 9-0, during the last meeting between the teams at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Feb. 23, 2018.
•    This year marks the first time SEMO faces Illinois.

Redburn Returns to Evansville
•    Mark Redburn returns to Evansville for the first time since he took over as Southeast Missouri's head coach.
•    Redburn was Evansville's head coach for five years from 2010-14. There, he compiled an overall record of 90-175 and 42-87 mark in Missouri Valley Conference games.
•    He is 1-0 against the Purple Aces at the SEMO helm with that win coming on Feb. 23, 2018 at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Against the Big Ten
•    Illinois is the second Big Ten Conference opponent Southeast Missouri faces this season.
•    SEMO also played Northwestern twice at the Arkansas Razorback Invitational on Feb. 20 and Feb. 21.
•    The Redhawks are 5-10 all-time against Big Ten schools.
•    SEMO has played Indiana (1-1), Iowa (2-0), Maryland (1-1), Nebraska (0-2), Northwestern (1-3), Ohio State (0-1) and Wisconsin (0-2) out of the Big Ten.
•    The Redhawks last win over a Big Ten opponent was a 4-3 victory against Iowa in Kansas City, Missouri on Mar. 15, 2022.

Eight of 11
•    Southeast Missouri has won eight of its last 11 games heading into this week's action.
•    SEMO had a season-long six-game winning streak recently end in its series finale at SIU Edwardsville (4-0) on Apr. 4.
•    The Redhawks won game three of their series at Southern Indiana (Mar. 22), swept their home series vs. Tennessee State (Mar. 28-29) and claimed series wins at SIU Edwardsville (Apr. 3-4) and vs. Eastern Illinois (Apr. 11-12) during that stretch.

Midweek Games
•    The Redhawks are 2-3 in midweek games this season.
•    Southeast Missouri swept Western Illinois (Mar. 9) in a doubleheader, lost twice at #12 Mississippi State (Mar. 10) and dropped a 9-3 decision at Saint Louis (Apr. 8).

Redhawks Take Down OVC Leader Eastern Illinois
•    Southeast Missouri handed Ohio Valley Conference leader Eastern Illinois its first conference series loss of the season on Apr. 11-12 in Cape Girardeau.
•    SEMO won a pair of one-run games by scores of 9-8 and 4-3 in a doubleheader to clinch the series win.

OVC Update
•    Southeast Missouri is fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a 10-7 league record.
•    SEMO entered the Easter weekend at sixth in the OVC before passing both SIUE and Southern Indiana for the fourth-place spot.
•    Eastern Illinois (14-3), UT Martin (13-4) and Tennessee Tech (11-5) are ahead of the Redhawks.
•    SEMO returns home to host Lindenwood in a three-game series this weekend (Apr. 18-19).
•    The Redhawks have nine OVC games left this season.

Affolter on a Roll
•     Left fielder Brittany Affolter hit safely in nine of her last 10 starts.
•    Affolter hit .433 (13-for-30) with 14 runs scored, four doubles, a triple, two home runs, seven RBI. five walks and four stolen bases in that span.
•    She hit .400 in Southeast Missouri's series win at SIU Edwardsville (Apr. 3-4). 
•    Affolter hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning after SIUE pulled within a run during game two of the Redhawks doubleheader sweep on Apr. 3.
•    She homered again against Eastern Illinois (Apr. 12) for her second round-tripper of the season.
•    Affolter raised her batting average from .147 to .281 during her hitting streak.

Shore Named OVC Player of the Week
•     First baseman Aubrie Shore won Southeast Missouri's first Ohio Valley Conference award this season when she was named Player of the Week on Apr. 13.
•    Shore hit a team-best .545 in four starts last week. She went 6-for-11 with one run scored, a double and six RBI.
•    She had a huge two-out, two-RBI single in the bottom of the third inning that ended up being the difference in SEMO's 4-3 series clinching win over OVC leader Eastern Illinois (Apr. 11).
•    Additionally, she boasted a .643 on-base percentage and .636 slugging percentage for the week.
•    It is the second OVC Player of the Week honor in Shore's career.

Getting on Base
•     Kamden Hutton reached base in nine of her 12 plate appearances over three starts at SIU Edwardsville (Apr. 3-4). 
•    Hutton got on base in seven of her first eight trips to the plate.
•    For the series, she had four hits, scored five runs and walked five times.
•    Hutton leads the team with a .450 on-base percentage this year and has reached base in nine-straight games.

Starting Streak
•     Addy Martinie has started 44-consecutive games dating back to the 2025 season.
•    Martinie is the only player who started every game this year.
•    She made 32 of her starts at shortstop.

Redburn Approaching 400 Wins at NCAA Division I Level
•    Mark Redburn needs just three more wins to reach 400 career victories during his two NCAA Division I coaching jobs.
•    Redburn compiled 397 wins during his head coaching stops at SEMO (307) and Evansville (90).
•    Earlier this year, Redburn picked up his 300th career win at SEMO when the Redhawks beat Southern Indiana, 10-5, on Mar. 22.
•    He is 307-253 during his SEMO tenure.

Top Two Hitters 
•    Kamden Hutton and Madison Winkler are hitting .352 and .346, respectively.
•    Winkler (37) and Hutton (32) have combined for 69 of SEMO's hits this season.
•    The tandem is also responsible for 37 runs and 34 RBI through 37 games this year.

About Evansville
•    Evansville is sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with an overall record of 16-20 and 9-9 in MVC play.
•    UE is tied for 10th in the MVC in hitting with a .269 batting average. 
•    Niki Bode is hitting a team-high .391 with 12 runs scored, 36 hits, 14 doubles and 13 RBI.
•    As a team, the Purple Aces have hit 31 home runs with nine belonging to Brooke Voss.

About Illinois
•    Illinois leads the Big Ten Conference with 31 losses this season.
•    The Fighting Illini are 15th in the conference with a 2-12 league record.
•    Illinois was recently outscored, 45-1, in three losses to #8 UCLA.
•    Skylar Brennan is hitting .333 as the Illini's leading offensive threat.
•    Adisyn Caryl is close behind hitting .331.