A sendoff for the OVC regular-season champion and OVC Tournament top-seeded SEMO softball team is scheduled for 3 p.m., CT, Monday at the Houck Field House parking lot.

Southeast Missouri is the top seed in this year’s eight-team Ohio Valley Conference Tournament which is scheduled for May 8-11 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.

SEMO was awarded the #1 seed after winning a coin flip to break its tie with Jacksonville State. OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche administered the coin toss at the league office in Brentwood, Tennessee, 30 minutes after the conclusion of Sunday’s doubleheader between Austin Peay and SIU Edwardsville. Had APSU swept SIUE, the Redhawks would have clinched the #1 seed and a coin flip wouldn’t have been necessary.

Both school’s names were put in a hat before the coin toss and JSU was drawn. JSU Head Coach Jana McGinnis called “tails,” but the coin landed “heads” giving SEMO the top seed.

The Redhawks and Gamecocks had identical composite records (4-2) against Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay and Murray State, which all finished tied at 16-6; the same records (1-1) against Belmont; the same records against UT Martin (2-0); and the exact composite records (3-1) versus Tennessee Tech and SIUE which tied for eighth.

The 2019 OVC Tournament field consists of #1 SEMO, #2 Jacksonville State, #3 Austin Peay, #4 Murray State, #5 Eastern Kentucky, #6 Belmont, #7 UT Martin and #8 SIUE.

SEMO will open postseason play against the winner of #4 Murray State and #5 Eastern Kentucky or #8 SIUE at 12:30 p.m., CT, on Thursday, May 9.

The Redhawks make their 18th OVC Tournament appearance and third in five years under head coach Mark Redburn. SEMO claimed the #1 seed for the sixth time in school history and is the top seed for the first time since 1999.

SEMO is 39-27 all-time at the OVC Tournament. That mark includes a 17-5 record as the #1 seed. Jacksonville State won the tournament all three years it has been in Oxford.