SEMO softball headed to OVC Tourney as No. 1 seed

Paytience Holmen pitches for SEMO softball during their double hitter on Sunday, April 30 in Cape Girardeau.

Megan Burke ~ Southeast Missourian

The Southeast Missouri State softball team heads to Oxford, Alabama on Thursday aiming to claim the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title, with a spot in the NCAA Tournament up for grabs.

The Redhawks recently won the OVC regular season championship and will enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Redhawks were the top seed going into the tournament last season but fell to the No. 2-seeded Belmont Bruins. This season marks the fifth year in a row that SEMO has made the trip to Oxford and unlike last season, the Redhawks hope to make it to the championship round this time around.

SEMO head coach Mark Redburn was named OVC Coach of the Year on Tuesday. First baseman Aubrie Shore was also named OVC Co-Player of the Year for finishing the regular season with seven home runs, 32 RBI, and a .345 batting average. The Redhawks had seven All-OVC selections with Shore, pitcher Delaney Kell, catcher Kat Sackett and center fielder Paige Halliwill earning first-team honors. Second baseman Sydney Dennis and shortstop Alyson Tucker claimed second-team accolades, and right fielder Zoe Schulte landed a spot on the 12-member All-Newcomer Team. Kell and Davis went over the entire conference slate of the schedule without losing a game on the mound. Kell went 9-0 and Davis was 6-0 against league foes. Davis limited opponents to an OVC-best .157 batting average in conference games. Kell led the Redhawks with a 13-3 record.

SEMO closed the regular season schedule this past weekend with a split series on the road against the Eastern Illinois Panthers. The Redhawks went 20-2 in the OVC, including a 16-game winning streak that ended during the final doubleheader of the season. Their 20-2 mark is the program’s second-best conference record ever just behind the 1996 squad with a 22-2 record.

The Redhawks finished with an undefeated 13-0 home record for the second consecutive season. SEMO also currently has a 30-game home winning streak stretching through three seasons.

This was the eighth regular season title for the Redhawks and their third in five seasons, including the 2020 COVID canceled season. The Redhawks have appeared in the OVC Tournament 21 times, winning six championships.

Many SEMO teams won the OVC Championship this season including football, women’s indoor track and field, men’s basketball, and women’s tennis. SEMO Softball will look to add to that total as will the baseball team when their season closes out. Along with the championship, the team has the opportunity to reach 30 wins in a season for the 15th time since entering Division I.

The team has as good an opportunity to take home the tournament win and head into the NCAA Tournament because of a handful of reasons. The power of sophomore infielder Shore, the do-it-all abilities of Dennis, the outstanding .311 batting average the team currently boasts, and their experience of being in the tournament.

The Redhawks will have to wait until Thursday to start their tournament journey. Due to the weather getting in the way on Wednesday, the #4-seeded UT Martin Skyhawks will play the #5-seeded SIUE Cougars on Thursday at 10 a.m. The winner of that game will move on to face SEMO at 3 p.m. on Thursday. All games will be streamed on ESPN+.