MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State softball will look to bounce back from a two-game home skid with a road trip to the Show Me state as the Eagles face Southeast Missouri State this weekend at the Southeast Softball Complex in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The first contest will take place on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET with the final two games starting on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

ESPN+ will broadcast each of the matchups. Game one can be seen at the following link: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=562540e9-15b2-4f42-bd53-fdfd87de4388, with game two's link: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=80b06c5e-d31b-47eb-8d7a-75a2e3a5a2c0 and game three's link: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=b2502949-9c04-41ae-a459-8940e0e314c9. Live stats can also be followed through SEMORedhawks.com at the links: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=390125 (game one), http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=390126 (game two) and http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=390134 (game three).

Morehead State (2-22/1-7) enters the series having dropped both of its home outings on Wednesday in five innings to Tennessee Tech, 9-1 and 8-0. The Eagles have not won away from home since April 17, 2021, when it came out on top in the first game of a doubleheader at Tennessee-Martin, 3-1, a string of 23 consecutive contests. In true road meetings, MSU has dropped 12 straight.

Still, that has not deterred the team as it enters its second Ohio Valley Conference road series of the season.

"We had a great couple of days of practice. The energy was great. The attitudes are positive. Their work ethic was outstanding," said Morehead State coach Samantha Jones. "Going into this weekend, I feel good and confident about our team of what they're going to put out on the field. They continue to play for each other. They continue to be resilient and I am thankful that we have an opportunity to go beat a great team who is always a contender for an OVC championship."

Among the everyday players, senior catcher/infielder Peyton Slater moved back in front of the team's batting average stats at .262. Junior right fielder Maddi Gailor paces the squad with 11 RBI and is hitting .316 in 38 at-bats. Slater and freshman left fielder Ieesha Christian are next in driving in runs with seven apiece. MSU is hitting .218 as a group.

In conference games, junior middle infielder Kirya Kingery tops the Eagles with a .444 batting average. Gailor is next at .364 and boasts a team-high five RBI.

Among the pitchers, sophomore Lennon Spicer (2-10) has a 5.09 ERA with 53 strikeouts and 33 walks. Freshman Madi Ogden is 0-7 with a 6.22 ERA, 27 strikeouts and 32 walks; while freshman Bree Sexton is 0-3 with a 7.11 ERA, eight strikeouts and 32 walks. The pitchers have a combined 6.73 ERA. In Ohio Valley Conference action, Spicer is 1-2 with a 4.12 ERA, eight strikeouts and five walks.

The Eagles are averaging just over a stolen base per game with Christian having swiped a team-best seven bags. MSU batters have also been hit by a pitch 26 times this season, among the most in Division I. The school record is 39. Senior infielder Peyton Rose is third nationally in being hit at a rate of 0.48 per game. The 11 times she has been awarded a free base after having a pitch strike her ties Kingery for the seventh most in a season in Morehead State history.

The preseason choice to win the OVC, Southeast Missouri State (14-13/3-3) dropped all three outings of its road series at Tennessee Tech this past weekend, including 2-0 on Sunday and 5-4 and 5-3 on Saturday. Prior to that, the Redhawks had won five straight games.

SEMO is 3-0 at home this year, having swept its March 19-20 meetings with Tennessee State, and has won a total of six consecutive outings at the Southeast Softball Complex. Saturday will be the Redhawks Alumni Day.

Senior pitcher Rachel Rook (8-6) recently broke the school's career strikeout record. She currently has 115 this season. She also sports a 3.12 ERA, has walked 31 batters in 85 and one-third innings and is holding opponents to a .211 batting average. Junior Marisa Davis (2-3) has a 2.61 ERA with 24 strikeouts to 25 walks in 45.2 innings. Sophomore Paytience Holman (3-2) has thrown 32 and two-thirds innings and has a 3.21 ERA, 21 strikeouts and 10 walks. As a team, Southeast Missouri owns a 3.43 ERA, while its foes are posting a 4.46 ERA.

The club's collective batting average in .282. Its opponents are hitting .241. Senior outfielder Kaylee Anderson is the top hitter with a .421 average, 23 runs, six doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI, a .697 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage. Freshman catcher Tori Bradley follows with a .322 batting average. Sophomore outfielder Paige Halliwill tops the team with 20 RBI and is the co-leader with five homers.

The two teams first met in 1992. In the early years, SEMO dominated the series, but recently MSU has closed the gap taking eight of the last 18. The Redhawks have a 65-21 advantage and have won the last five. Southeast Missouri owns a 33-7 edge in games played in Cape Girardeau, having claimed the last six meetings.

Last March, the Redhawks swept the series at home with an 8-0 victory in five innings on the 26th and then followed by taking both contests on the 27th, 10-0 in five innings and 9-1 in six innings. MSU's last win in the series (4-1) came on May 10, 2018, at the OVC Tournament in Oxford, Ala. The last time the Eagles prevailed at SEMO was on April 22, 2017. That score was 6-2.

Coach Jones is 0-5 in her Morehead State career against Southeast Missouri.

The Eagles return home next week to host Kentucky State in a Wednesday doubleheader that starts at 1 p.m. It will be the first two games of a 10-game home stand.