WINNER TAKES ALL: INDIANS SWEEP EKU TO SET UP TITLE SHOWDOWN

One game, for all the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season baseball marbles.

That is what is has come down to for Southeast Missouri State University's Indians and Eastern Kentucky's Colonels.

The Indians, who entered the home weekend series needing a three-game sweep of the Colonels to win the OVC title, got two-thirds of the job done Saturday by capturing both ends of a doubleheader in front of a season-high crowd of 1,820 enthusiastic fans at Capaha Field.

At 2 p.m. today, the squads will hook up in a nine-inning contest, with the winner claiming the OVC regular-season crown.

"As a player, it's the kind of day you live for," said Southeast's Darin Kinsolving of today's regular-season finale.

Kinsolving could only shake his head at how close the Indians came to not getting a chance at their first-ever OVC regular-season championship today.

After winning Saturday's opener 10-4, Southeast held a 5-0 lead in the nightcap. But EKU rallied with five runs in the seventh -- it was the Colonels' final regulation at-bat -- breaking up Lanson Debrock's no-hit bid in the process.

But the Indians, as has been their personality most of the year, did not let that seemingly devastating emotional letdown crush them. They scored a run in the 10th to complete the sweep 6-5.

"It was a crazy day, but to come out of it with two wins was the big thing," said Kinsolving, who blasted two home runs in the opener.

Said Southeast coach Mark Hogan, "It was a roller coaster and it usually is in a title situation. I thought both sides showed tremendous courage. It should be a great day (today). We're playing for the conference title and we'll let it all hang out."

By sweeping Saturday, the Indians also assured themselves of hosting this week's OVC Tournament regardless of what happens today.

EKU, since it doesn't have a field with lights, is not eligible to host the league tourney. Southeast and Middle Tennessee entered Saturday in the battle for that, but the Indians' sweep locked it up.

Southeast, continuing to build on its highest single-season victory total in school history, improved to 35-14 overall and 17-5 in OVC play. EKU is 28-25 overall and 17-6 in the league.

What appeared to be a fairly certain sweep took a wild turn in the seventh inning of the nightcap.

Debrock carried a 5-0 lead and a no-hitter into EKU's final at-bat. It looked like the only suspense left would be whether or not the senior right-hander would complete the gem.

But strange things can happen in baseball, as the top of the seventh proved.

Adam Basil drew a leadoff walk. Lee Chapman then hit a routine ground ball that appeared to have double play written all over it. Shortstop Zach Borowiak, having a tremendous freshman season, booted it for an error. Still, Debrock's no-hitter was intact and EKU was still down by five runs. The situation seemed far from dire.

EKU's next batter, Jason Sharp, lined a clean single to center, breaking up the no-hit bid and loading the bases.

Debrock got Mike Schneider on a ground ball to short that scored a run and broke up the shutout, but Southeast still seemed to be in good shape.

Gabe Thomas delivered an RBI single, making it 5-2, and Hogan then replaced Debrock with ace reliever Jeffrey Hilz.

Tom White greeted Hilz with an RBI single, making it 5-3. Hilz struck out Brad Sizemore for the second out, but Kiley Vaughn and Aaron Williams delivered consecutive RBI singles as the game was suddenly tied.

"You have to give Eastern Kentucky a lot of credit," Hogan said. "They looked beat, but they made a great run."

Hilz escaped further damage in the seventh, then neither squad could score until the Indians finally made amends in the bottom of the 10th.

Jeremy Johnson led off with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch by reliever Mike Martini. One out later, Phil Warren singled to center and Johnson raced home to score easily with the winning run.

"I thought it would hang up, but then I saw it fall and I was pumped up," said Warren of his sinking liner that fell in. "You can't even describe how exciting this is. All the marbles will be on the line (today). It should be great."

Debrock, who struck out four and walked two, did not seem concerned about losing a shot at the no-hitter or even a personal victory.

"I don't care about that. The main thing is we won," he said.

Hilz (8-2) got the win. Even though he allowed EKU to tie the contest in the seventh, he kept the Colonels scoreless over the next three frames. Hilz fanned four in 3 2/3 innings after striking out the side in the seventh inning of the opener.

"Lanson pitched a tremendous game and then what can you say about Hilz for holding them until we could scratch out a run," Hogan said.

EKU starter Corey Eagle (8-4), although he took the loss, was equally brilliant in defeat. Eagle, despite some shoddy defense by the teammates, allowed just four hits in nine-plus innings. He retired 15 straight before walking Johnson leading off the 10th.

In the opener, Kinsolving, Dan Huesgen and Denver Stuckey were among the main stars.

Kinsolving stole the show on offense, going 4-for-4 with two homers, a triple and five RBIs. He now has 16 homers on the season.

Warren went 3-for-3 and drilled his eighth homer of the year. Marino and Kevin Meyer each had two of Southeast's 13 hits, Meyer's two doubles giving him 21 and setting a single-season school record.

Huesgen (5-4) had a shaky start as EKU jumped ahead 2-0 in the first. But he settled down to pitch six solid innings, scattering seven hits.

"I started off pretty bad, but I knew if I could hold them down, we'd score some runs," Huesgen said.

Stuckey, a redshirt freshman third baseman, turned in the defensive play of the day and it might very well have been a game-saver as he made a dazzling, diving stop behind the bag, then got up to throw out Basil and save two runs in the fifth when the contest was still very much up for grabs.