SEMO’s Holman leads team on and off the diamond

Holman prepares to throw a pitch during the April 5. game between the Redhawks and Tennessee Tech.

Photo Courtesy of Carrie Trovillion - Freelance Photographer

SEMO softball’s fifth-year senior pitcher Paytience Holman currently leads the Redhawks with a 2.96 ERA as of April 5. Holman has seen plenty of success during her time in Cape Girardeau including the 2021 and 2023 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championships.

Most recently, Holman pitched a complete game shutout at #11 ranked Missouri and the Redhawks defeated the Tigers 1-0, the highest-ranked team the Redhawks have ever defeated. Holman, a native of Mexico, MO, just 45 minutes from Columbia, said it was awesome to beat such a good team with her family in attendance.

“It was a good confidence booster. It was the best game I‘ve ever pitched probably in my entire life,” Holman said. “It was just so fun to be out there where my family and my friends were, it was encouraging.”

Holman is currently 8-8 as a starter with the win over Missouri and Power 5 Conference Maryland as well. Add in her 50 strikeouts compared to just 23 walks and it becomes easy to see why SEMO head coach Mark Redburn trusts her as his ace.

Holman throws a warm-up pitch during the April 5. game between the Redhawks and Tennessee Tech.

“She's really led our pitching staff. She's been a great leader on our team as well and she wants it really bad. Knowing that this is her last year, she's come in with a great attitude and work ethic and has led us from the circle there,” Redburn said. “‘I’m just really, really happy for her and she's gonna keep leading us down the stretch.”

The Redhawks have reached the final stretch of the season in third place in the OVC with four series left to play. With two of those series being with the OVC teams tied for last place the Redhawks could be poised to make a run, and with the never-back-down attitude of Holman leading the way from the circle, the Redhawks will look to return to the NCAA Tournament.

“I just need to keep dominating and keep encouraging and being able to pick up my teammates. Being dominant is probably the biggest thing because we need leaders we need people to keep leading,” Holman said. “I need to trust everything that's going on around me, trust the calls of the coach and try to trust my defense. I trust my pitches and I don’t try to do too much. I do get nervous but I know that my teammates are gonna have my back.”

Holman and the Redhawks will be back in action on Wednesday when they take on Saint Louis University at 4 p.m.