~ Sixth-seeded Southeast hung on for a dramatic 7-6 victory over No. 3 Eastern Illinois.

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State barely slipped into the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, needing a win in its final regular-season game to secure the last spot.

As the six-team event began Wednesday night, the Redhawks showed they certainly belonged.

Sixth-seeded Southeast continued its offensive resurgence, received a gritty pitching performance from Anthony Maupin and clutch relief work from Josh Parham to hold off third-seeded Eastern Illinois 7-6.

"It's a great victory for our program," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "The performance of the whole team against a really good club was just outstanding."

The Redhawks (22-31), who have won five of their last six games, advance to tonight's 6:30 p.m. winner's bracket semifinal against top-seeded Samford (32-23), the OVC regular-season champion which had a first-round bye.

"The first game is always the biggest game of the tournament because you don't want to fall into the loser's bracket," junior outfielder Dustin Pritchett said. "It's big to get this one."

Southeast was one of the nation's worst-hitting teams during the early part of the season, but lately the Redhawks have hit the ball as well as any squad in the OVC.

That trend continued Wednesday, as the Redhawks banged out 14 hits, including four doubles.

Pritchett went 3-for-4 with a double and four runs batted in. Senior catcher Levi Olson and junior second baseman Omar Padilla each went 3-for-6, and both doubled.

"It's taken all year for the offense to come around, but we're peaking at the right time," Pritchett said.

Maupin, a senior right-hander, survived a somewhat shaky start to give the Redhawks 8 1/3 innings as he improved to 7-5. Maupin allowed 12 hits and six runs (five earned), with six strikeouts and no walks.

"I was a little spotty early, but it got better as the game went on," Maupin said. "This was big. You don't want to get into the loser's bracket right away."

A back-and-forth game that featured four lead changes over the first four innings, with no advantage greater than one run, finally turned in Southeast's favor during a four-run top of the sixth that started with the Redhawks down 4-3.

No. 9 batter Daryl Graham led off with a walk, went to third on a Padilla single and scored when Brent Lawson's ground ball to second base was booted for an error. Lawson was credited with an RBI on the play.

With one out, Jordan Payne's single plated Padilla with the go-ahead run. After Andrew Graham was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Pritchett drilled a double that brought home Lawson and Payne for a 7-4 Southeast lead.

Eastern Illinois (31-23) pulled within 7-6 on Mark Chagnon's two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh.

The Panthers then threatened in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Brett Nommensen got an infield single off Maupin's glove. That brought on Parham, who has been strong out of the bullpen most of the season.

Facing Chagnon, the OVC's No. 3 hitter with a .385 average, Parham induced a pop fly to Padilla.

Nommensen stole second, then Parham hit Erik Huber -- the OVC's top hitter at .400 -- on an 0-2 pitch.

Ryan Campbell's drive to right-center initially looked like it might get down, but the ball hung up and freshman right fielder Andrew Graham eased over to make the catch and nail down Parham's third save of the season.

"When he first hit it, I thought it might be trouble. It scared me for a second," said Parham, a junior left-hander from Jackson High School. "I was just glad I was able to finish the game. We played so hard."

Last season the Redhawks were the first team bounced from the double-elimination event as they went 0-2.

That definitely won't be the case this year, but the Redhawks are chasing bigger game. A win tonight over Samford -- and OVC pitcher of the year Josh Ehmke -- would be another major step.

"All we needed was to make the tournament," Pritchett said. "Now that we're here, we think we can beat anybody."

Gibson ineligible

It was announced before the game that senior right fielder Chris Gibson had been declared academically ineligible for the tournament and any potential future action this year based on his performance during the recently concluded spring semester.

Also, freshman center fielder Daniel Schuh suffered a hamstring injury during Wednesday's game and is questionable for the rest of the tournament.