The Southeast Softball team is beginning Ohio Valley Conference play with an overall record of 16-10 after splitting a double header against Missouri on Wednesday. Southeast beat Missouri for the first time in 18 years, giving the team even more energy heading into OVC play.

“I think it’s mostly about energy, but obviously, we have been planning a lot for OVC play, but I think our preseason games have led us into what we’re going to face in the OVC,” senior catcher Abby Tillotson said, “We’re pushing to be the best, especially because we have a big class leaving this year, so we want to push to make the OVC happen for everyone.”

On the quest for success, head coach Mark Redburn has high hopes that his players will ignore the big-name teams and stick to what they know.

“We have always taught our players about competing against the game and the situation, and they have always embraced that,” Redburn said.

After last year’s season, Redburn is optimistic that this season will bring more success.

“They have really gotten a good handle on where they are now and we have a lot more experience,” Redburn said.

Not only does Redburn see the connection the team has with the game, but the players do too.

“This year we have really good team altogether. We have great energy, we have great leadership and hardworking players, and we’re just great as a team altogether,” Tillotson said.

While the team has gained experience throughout the season, Tillotson said they have been fighting the weather all year.

“We face a lot of weather issues,” said Tillotson. “Even though we have only been able to practice on our field maybe once or twice for practice, we still found other places to go.”

The preparation for the OVC started at the beginning of the season for Southeast as preseason games have arranged the team for success.

“Coach did a really good job putting together a tough preseason schedule where we played some bigger teams like Memphis this past weekend,” senior Pitcher Maddie Krumrey said. “Playing those schools and having success against them builds confidence and shows that we can beat good teams and that we are good enough to continue that success in the conference.”

Practice makes perfect, but what happens off the field has been crucial to the Redhawks.

“We have been working really hard off the field in weights and conditioning, we started doing swim workouts that are really beneficial. Also, were trying to do the right things off the field like getting enough sleep, eating right and staying hydrated,” Krumrey said.

Off the field workouts, and preparations have been paying off for the Redhawks and their stats are showing it.

At this time last year the redhawks were (15-10) and were looking promising leading Kansas in their last preseason game 4-0 before they lost the lead late in the 7th inning to a walkoff homerun. This year the Redhawks are (16-10) and have a strong group of seniors leading the way.

Krumrey has a record of 8-3 and a 4.24 ERA, followed by 79 hits, and 5 HR.

Tillotson is .309 at the plate, 21 hits, 5 HR, and 23 RBI’s.

“Recently we have hit our stride in terms of hitting and defense, it has all come together, and this past weekend showed that. We scored a lot of runs which is really big going into conference because we’re going to play a lot of really good teams and were going to need to score a lot of runs to stay on top.” Krumrey said.

The Redhawks will start off the OVC portion of their schedule this weekend in a double header against Tennessee Tech on Friday at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Followed by a double header on Sunday against Jacksonville State at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.