Mark Redburn
Head Coach
Mark Redburn begins his 11th year as Southeast Missouri's head softball coach in 2025.
Redburn orchestrated an outstanding turnaround that has seen the Redhawks win three Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles (2019, 2021, 2023), two OVC Tournament crowns (2019, 2024) and earn a pair of NCAA Tournament berths (2019, 2024) since the start of the 2019 campaign.
In 2024, Redburn reached the decade mark of his SEMO career and celebrated that milestone by leading the Redhawks to their seventh OVC Tournament title in program history and third NCAA Division I Tournament appearance.
SEMO put together an overall record of 28-26 and 19-8 in the OVC. The Redhawks went undefeated at 3-0 and won the OVC Tournament as a #2 seed for the first time in program history. Along the way, SEMO upended #1 Eastern Illinois twice giving Redburn his second OVC Tournament Championship.
After starting the 2024 season at 4-15 during a rugged non-conference stretch that featured matchups against six Power Four teams and included 12 games against opponents ranked among the nation’s Top-75 in RPI, SEMO’s momentum suddenly shifted in April.
The Redhawks knocked off then-#11 Missouri in Columbia on Apr. 3 for the biggest win in their NCAA Division I history. The huge upset catapulted SEMO to 16 wins in its final 22 games. Additionally, it marked the second win over a ranked opponent for Redburn. The Redhawks joined Arkansas, Arizona and Villanova at the NCAA Regional in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Redburn picked up his 250th career win as SEMO’s head coach against Southern Indiana on Mar. 29, 2024. He then surpassed 350 career wins as an NCAA Division I head coach when the Redhawks swept Western Illinois in their final home series of the season.
SEMO registered six series wins in 2024, four of which were sweeps. In OVC play, the Redhawks led the league in batting average (.314), runs (147), slugging percentage (.443), on-base percentage (.376), hits (239), RBI (131), doubles (42), total bases (337) and at-bats (761). SEMO outscored OVC opponents by a +79 margin (147-68).
Six Redhawks garnered All-OVC honors. Paige Halliwill and Marissa Peek took first-team accolades, while Aubrie Shore, Abigail Rickermann and Paytience Holman were second-team picks. Maddie Carney landed a spot on the OVC All-Newcomer Team.
In the last eight seasons, SEMO won a total of 231 games. The Redhawks notched a program record 46 wins in 2019 and won 30 games in back-to-back seasons (2021, 2022) for the second time in Redburn's tenure.
In terms of winning percentage, softball has been the winningest program in SEMO Athletics with a .604 clip since the beginning of the 2017 season.
During the first 10 years with Redburn at the helm, SEMO has produced one National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American, nine NFCA All-Region selections, 33 All-OVC picks, two OVC Players of the Year, one OVC Pitcher of the Year, two OVC Tournament Most Valuable Players and two College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-Americans.
In 20 years as a head coach between the NCAA Division I and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) ranks, Redburn has been to 11 postseason tournaments, including one NJCAA National Tournament (2003), one Missouri Valley Conference Tournament (2013), seven OVC Tournaments (2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and two NCAA Division I Tournaments (2019, 2024). He has also accumulated 480 wins all-time as a head coach.
Academically, the softball team recorded a 3.0 or higher grade point average every year with Redburn as its coach. Most recently, SEMO posted 3.53 (fall) and 3.55 (spring) GPAs during the 2023-24 academic year. The Redhawks highest GPA since Redburn took over as head coach stands at 3.74 during the fall 2020 semester.
The fourth head coach in Redhawk softball history, Redburn won 90 games in five years as head coach at the University of Evansville before accepting the job at SEMO on June 26, 2014.
Redburn began his collegiate coaching career as head coach at St. Charles (Mo.) Community College from 2001-04. He led the 2003 team to its first Region 16 championship and a seventh-place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I National Tournament. His 2004 squad set a school record with 33 victories.
Following his stay at St. Charles CC, Redburn spent two seasons as head coach of the new softball program at Jefferson College. In the program’s first year of competition, 2006, he led Jefferson to a 49-16 record, Region 16 championship and ninth-place finish at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament. Redburn was honored as the Midwest Community College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year following that season.
A native of St. Charles, Missouri, Redburn graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1993 and received his master’s degree in Athletics/Activities Administration from William Woods University.
He is a member of the NCAA Division I Head Coaches Committee and serves as the OVC Head Coach Representative for the NFCA. Redburn was also the OVC representative for the Top-25 Poll until the 2023 season.
Redburn and his wife, Tracy, have two sons, Joe and Jack.
Kristen Jones
Associate Head Coach
Kristen Jones is in her eighth year with the Southeast Missouri softball program. Jones was elevated to Associate Head Coach on June 16, 2022 after spending her first seven seasons as an assistant coach.
Jones primarily works with the catchers and handling the team's travel logistics, while overseeing the Redhawks academics, compliance and recruiting efforts.
SEMO has had a lot of success both competitively and academically with Jones on staff.
In the last five seasons alone, SEMO has won a total of 151 games for an average of 30 per year during that span. The Redhawks notched a program record 46 wins in 2019 and won 30 games in back-to-back seasons (2021, 2022) for the second time in her tenure assisting the Redhawks. In terms of winning percentage, softball has been the winningest program in SEMO Athletics with a .569 clip in the last seven years. Over that time, the Redhawks accumulated 190 victories and boasted a .601 winning percentage with 89 wins in OVC play.
Academically, SEMO has been just as impressive with Jones' leadership. Most recently, the softball team accumulated a 3.62 GPA during the Fall 2022 semester. In 2021-22, the Redhawks had a total of seven OVC Medal of Honor recipients, 17 OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll picks and 15 players earn Easton NFCA Academic Scholar-Athlete accolades.
A native of Plant City, Florida, Jones was part of the 2019 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I Mideast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year. Over the last five years alone, Jones helped lead SEMO to a total of 151 wins, including a program record 46 during the 2019 campaign.
Prior to coming to Cape Girardeau, Jones worked as the Coordinator of New Media and Championships for the Peach Belt Conference located in Augusta, Georgia. Jones first joined the Peach Belt Conference as a New Media & Programming Intern, a position she held from January 2012-June 2014. She then moved to full-time status in July 2014.
She received her bachelor's degree in Kinesiology at Augusta State University in 2012 and then earned her master's degree in 2014.
Jones enjoyed a successful playing career at Augusta State, garnering National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Second-Team All-America and NFCA & Daktronics First Team All-South Region honors in 2011. Additionally, Jones was a two-time First-Team All-Peach Belt Conference selection (2010, 2011).
