Redhawks' '07 calendar lacks Mizzou

~ The 12-year rivalry has been put on hold -- at least for 2007.

Southeast Missouri State and the University of Missouri have built a solid rivalry on the baseball diamond.

The Redhawks and Tigers have been on each other's schedule at least twice annually since 1995 -- the year Mark Hogan became Southeast's coach -- and they played three times last season.

When the Redhawks and Tigers squared off in Cape Girardeau the past three years, the matchups produced the three largest home crowds in Southeast baseball history, with 3,084 fans attending in 2004, 2,732 in 2005 and 2,917 in 2006.

The lure of free beer at Capaha Field for those dates -- provided by various local distributorships -- no doubt boosted attendance, but the large number of MU alumni in the area along with interest in seeing traditionally strong in-state teams square off also helped.

"It's been a good, spirited competition, a good rivalry," Hogan said. "We've had some great games with them over the years, and the games for us at home have been really special for us and our fans."

But for the upcoming season at least, the rivalry will be put on hold. Southeast's 2007 baseball schedule, which was recently posted on the university's athletic Web site, does not include MU.

Hogan said scheduling conflicts are the reason, primarily from MU's end.

"We were ready to go, but it just didn't work out from their end," Hogan said. "We had dates available, but unfortunately they didn't."

Hogan would not bite when asked if he thought the fact the Redhawks beat MU twice last season -- even though the Tigers were among the nation's top-ranked teams much of the year -- had anything to do with MU coaches not being able to fit Southeast on their schedule.

"I just know that sometimes scheduling is really tough, and I'm sure there were legitimate problems on their end," he said. "But it is disappointing that we won't be playing them this year."

Hogan hopes the Redhawks and Tigers can resume the series -- which primarily has featured annual games in Cape Girardeau and Columbia -- in the near future.

Southeast is just 7-17 against MU under Hogan, but the Redhawks have won three of the past five meetings, including two of three last season.

Last year, Southeast won 3-2 in Cape Girardeau and 9-5 in Columbia. The Redhawks lost 14-3 during a tournament in Kansas City, Kan.

"Hopefully we'll be able to get them back on the schedule home and home again in 2008," Hogan said.

Despite the absence of MU -- and also the absence of any other traditional national powers -- Hogan likes the Redhawks' schedule, which begins Feb. 17 with a doubleheader at Jackson State.

Especially pleasing to Hogan is that, for the second straight year, Southeast's 56-game schedule features more than 30 home contests.

After having 32 home games scheduled last season, the Redhawks have 31 home contests lined up for this year.

"I think it's very important that we schedule as many home games as possible for our fans, who have given us such great support over the years," Hogan said. "And we've been very successful at home over the years."

Hogan said there are two reasons he has stopped playing so many games against programs from elite conferences: Those squads would never play in Cape Girardeau, meaning Southeast's nonleague schedule was always road-heavy, and the Ohio Valley Conference has been encouraging its members to play more teams from conferences closer in RPI to the OVC.

"Playing those big programs just killed our home schedule because we could never get them to come here," Hogan said. "And our conference emphasis is to play more games against teams from conferences in the 10 to 20 RPI range.

"Our conference RPI is in the 20s, and the league wants us to attack conferences in that 10 to 20 range so if we have some success, it helps our conference RPI. It doesn't really help us if we go 5-25 against top-five conferences."

After starting the season with a three-game series at Jackson State, Southeast plays 13 of its next 14 contests at home, beginning Feb. 23 against South Dakota State to start a three-game set. Overall, 18 of the Redhawks' first 24 games are scheduled for Capaha Field.

As in years past, the Redhawks will play regional opponents Southern Illinois, St. Louis and Arkansas State home and away.

Other nonconference home opponents are Memphis, Illinois State, Cleveland State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) and Bethel (Tenn.), while Southeast also faces Missouri State and Central Arkansas in road series.

The Redhawks begin OVC play March 24 with a three-game home series against Tennessee-Martin.

Southeast plays five of its nine OVC series on the road this year after having five of the nine at home last season.

"We maybe don't have the recognizable [nonconference] names," Hogan said, "but these are all good, solid programs that will really challenge us."

As far as what to expect on the field, Hogan said he is looking for the Redhawks to rebound after rare back-to-back losing seasons.

Hogan, entering his 13th season at Southeast, had just one losing record in his first 10 years -- and made two NCAA regional appearances -- before running into trouble in both 2005 and 2006.

Southeast went 24-32 in 2005, but still fared reasonably well in the OVC at 15-11.

Last season the Redhawks stumbled to 23-33 overall and 11-16 in conference play. Both figures were the worst during Hogan's tenure at Southeast.

But the 2006 Redhawks finished strong by winning six of their final nine games.

Even though Southeast graduated many of its top pitchers and also lost some key position players, Hogan hopes considerable returning talent along with what he regards as a strong group of newcomers will help the program get back on track.

"We need to. It's really important that we reassert ourselves," he said. "I really liked what I saw in the fall, and I have high hopes for this club."