Redhawks will wage Steak & Beans World Series over coming weeks

~ The baseball team will play the first of seven intrasquad games Thursday.

The start of the Southeast Missouri State baseball season is more than four months away, but fans will be able to get an early look at the Redhawks seven times over the next several weeks.

Southeast begins its annual Steak & Beans World Series at 3 p.m. Thursday at Capaha Field. The seven-game intrasquad series is part of the Redhawks' fall workouts.

The Redhawks will be split up into two teams, with the winning side rewarded with a steak dinner and the losing side relegated to eating beans. All seven games will be played regardless of the outcome.

"It's a good way to provide a little bit of fun for the guys for fall practice, to kind of spice things up, since we don't play anybody from the outside," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "And it's a good evaluation tool for us. We've got good talent, but we've still got questions to answer."

In addition to Thursday's first game, there will be games at 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Oct. 16, 6 p.m. Oct. 19, 2 p.m. Oct. 21, 3 p.m. Oct. 23 and at a time to be determined Oct. 26.

The Oct. 19 contest will be part of Homecoming Weekend.

Hogan said fans are welcome to attend. Admission is free.

"We'd really like to have people come out and watch," he said.

Hogan said he has generally been pleased with fall practice, which began Sept. 18 and concludes Oct. 26.

Southeast returns five position starters and two of its top pitchers from last year's squad that went 32-24 and finished third in the Ohio Valley Conference.

In addition, the Redhawks' 11-man scholarship recruiting class was ranked 91st nationally by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

"Things have gone well," Hogan said. "We've got a lot of new faces, and the guys that are back are obviously a year older and a year better."

The Redhawks open the 2008 season Feb. 22 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Dig for Life begins

The Southeast volleyball program will kick off its annual Dig for Life campaign tonight when Southern Illinois visits Houck Field House at 7 p.m.

During all Southeast home matches in October, money is raised through pledges for every Southeast dig, with funds going to support area breast cancer education, prevention and detection.

Sponsored by Saint Francis Medical Center, Dig for Life provides mammograms to area women who otherwise would not be able to afford them.

Since its inception in 2000, Dig for Life has raised $65,000.

For more information, call 573-331-5327.

As for tonight's match, Southeast (9-10, 5-4) is tied for fifth in the 11-team OVC, while SIU (11-7, 3-4) is sixth in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference.